Marie-Josée Kravis (born 11 September 1949) is an economist and philanthropist. She is from Montreal, Quebec, and is the third wife of financier Henry Kravis.^[1][2]

[edit]Background

Born in Ottawa, Drouin joined the Hudson Institute in 1973 after earning an MA in economics from the University of Ottawa. From an Executive Director of the Hudson Institute of Canada from 1973-1994, she became a senior fellow and trustee of the Hudson Institute USA in 1973, and Vice-Chair of the Board in 2011.

[edit]Boards/Fellowships

Marie-Josée has been a power player in the US boardroom, with stints on the board of companies including Ford. She is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, President of theMuseum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the International Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and on the board of directors of Publicis S.A. and LVMH. She is a member of the Board of the Qatar Museum Authority and she is a member of the International Council of the Prado Museum.^[3][2] She has served on the Board of Directors of CIBC, the Standard Life Insurance Co., Hasbro Inc., Hollinger International, Vivendi Universal, Ford Motor Company and IAC/InterActiveCorp.^[3]

Drouin also served as vice-chair of Canada’s Royal Commission on National Passenger Transportation; she was co-chair of a national commission on Prosperity and Competitiveness. She served on the binational dispute settlement panel established under the NAFTA agreement. She is on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study and is Vice-Chair of The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as well as Chair of the Sloan Kettering Institute. She was chairman of the Robin Hood Foundation.^[3]

[edit]Career

Marie-Josée Drouin has been a regular columnist for La Presse, the Montreal Gazette and the Financial Post in Canada, and has contributed to the Wall Street Journal and numerous other publications. She hosted a weekly television show on the public television network, TV Ontario.^[4]

[edit]Publications

She is the author with Barry Bruce-Briggs of Canada Has a Future and with Maurice Ernst and Jimmy Wheeler of Western Europe: Adjusting to Structural Change.

[edit]Awards

In 1994, Marie-Josée Kravis was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2006, she received the Légion d’honneur award.^[4]

[edit]Personal life

Marie-Josée Kravis was previously married to Charles Dutoit in 1982 and is currently the wife of Henry Kravis, whom she married in 1994. She and her husband have been active philanthropists in the United States and internationally.^[3]

Kravis and her husband reside in their homes in New York City, Southampton (New York), Meeker (Colorado), Palm Beach (Florida) and Paris (France). Their main residence is a Park Avenue triplex.^[3]

Marie-Josée Kravis and her husband have attended the Bilderberg conference. Kravis was on the board of Conrad Black’s Hollinger International from 1995 to 2003, and took the stand at his trial for fraud and obstruction of justice. Kravis testified that the board of directors knew nothing about the non-competition payments that enriched Black and David Radler.^[2][3]

[edit]Philanthropy

Along with her husband, Marie Josee Kravis is a major figure in the New York philanthropy community, and are together ranked as the 25th highest donating individuals according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Also along with her husband, she has been a major contributor to The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, and Carnegie Hall.^[5]

Kravis is also an active leader in the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, which is awarded for innovations in non-profit work. At the Mount Sinai Medical Center, she serves as a major patron and has helped to raise $30 million for their Heart Research Center. The center was named the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health, which later merged with the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute to form The Mount Sinai Heart Cardiovascular Research Institute.^[6] At the Museum of Modern Art, she was appointed as president in July 2005, and has donated $10 million to the Museum. Additionally, she is a trustee at The Institute for Advanced Study and the Hudson Institute, as well as a supporter of the Metropolitan Opera, The New York Philharmonic, and the Hermitage Collection at Somerset House, London. She is a trustee and former Chairman of the Robin Hood Foundation.^[7]

[edit]Controversy

Drouin was a board member at Conrad Black‘s Hollinger International until late 2003. Black was later charged with fraud and obstruction of justice. Drouin was called as a witness at Black’s trial in 2007, and testified that she had failed to spot the corporate malfeasance during her tenure. Drouin had left the board of Ford in 2006, Vivendi in 2005, and IAC in 2006.^[3]

[edit]References