Lee Bass

Lee Marshall Bass (born 1956) is an American heir, businessman and philanthropist.

Early life Lee Bass was born in 1956. His father was Perry Richardson Bass, an investor and philanthropist, and his mother, Nancy Lee Bass, was a philanthropist. His great-uncle was oil baron Sid Richardson.

Career In 1989, Governor William P. Clements, Jr. appointed him to a six-year term as a commissioner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Philanthropy He serves on the boards of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, The Peregrine Fund, and Vanderbilt University. He is a founding director of the International Rhino Foundation, and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. However, in 1995, under the presidency of Richard C. Levin, the gift was returned and the program canceled. In 1993, he also founded the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation with his wife. In 2009–2010, the foundation donated $700,000 to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. A Republican, he has supported George W. Bush, George Allen, Phil Gramm, John McCain, and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Personal life He is married to Ramona Seeligson of San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Arthur A. Seeligson Jr. and Linda Nixon. Lee and Ramona Bass have three children, Sophie, Perry and Ramona. , he is the 595th richest person in the world, and the 220th richest in the United States, with an estimated wealth of US$2.1 billion. Her late father owned stakes race winners both in the United States and in Europe. He most notably bred and raced Avatar, winner of the 1975 Santa Anita Derby and the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes. For a time, Arthur Seeligson was a co-owner of Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. He was a member of the board of directors of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York and a Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee.

In partnership with the renowned Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, Ramona Bass owned the 2009 Railbird Stakes winner, Witty. She owned and raced Avenge whose wins included back-to-back editions of the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes in 2016 and 2017. Ramona Bass was also the breeder of Roy H, winner of back-to-back editions of the Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2017 and 2018 and who was voted the American Champion Sprint Horse in both years.

Ramona Bass was a driving force behind the creation of Texas Wild! at the Fort Worth Zoo.