Sheldon Solow

Sheldon Henry Solow (July 20, 1928 – November 17, 2020) was an American real estate developer and art collector who lived and worked in New York City. In August 2020, he had a net worth of $4.4 billion.

Early life Solow was born and raised in a Jewish family in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Career Solow acquired his first property, a 72-family apartment building in Far Rockaway, in 1950 with a government-insured loan that his father arranged. He afterwards developed a shopping center as well as homes on Long Island. He established an office on Park Avenue in 1962 around the time that he was developing luxury apartments on Manhattan's Upper East Side. One of its prominent features is a large red sculpture of the numeral "9" by Ivan Chermayeff on the sidewalk by the main entrance. In 2016, he broke ground at one of the sites, 685 First Avenue, to start work on a 42-story residential development designed by Richard Meier.

Legal actions Solow was involved in many legal actions and lawsuits during his lifetime. The Real Deal magazine reported in 2008 that, by some measures, he had been involved in "upwards of 200" lawsuits. In 1975, he sued Avon Products, a tenant at 9 West 57th Street, for referring to the structure as the "Avon Building". The case was dismissed but Solow launched further legal action against the company claiming it had failed to restore the building to its original condition at the end of its lease in 1997. The case was settled out of court with Avon paying Solow $6.2 million. In April 2019, the New York federal judge ruled in favor of Citibank, and the Libor lawsuit will not be revived.

Personal life and art collection Solow was married to the sculptor and jewelry designer Mia Fonssagrives-Solow, the daughter of Lisa Fonssagrives, a Swedish model, and the French photographer, Fernand Fonssagrives. They had two children together and lived in New York City. Stefan also runs an agriculture conglomerate called Crossroads Agriculture based in Colorado and New Mexico. He is ranked the 54th largest landowner in the United States. Though Solow derived significant tax benefit from the collection's 501(c)3 non-profit status, he provided no public access. In 2018, Solow arranged for his son to lead the Solow Art and Architecture Foundation, effectively passing control of the collection from Sheldon to Stefan without any estate tax.

Solow died from lymphoma at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York on November 17, 2020, at the age of 92.