with Ronald Lauder on Sep 4, 2006
with Ronald Lauder on May 16, 2002
Ronald Steven Lauder is an American businessman, civic leader, philanthropist, and art collector. Lauder, the son of Estee Lauder Companies founders Estee and Joseph, started to work for the Estee Lauder Company in 1964. In 1984, Lauer became a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy at the Pentagon.
In 1986 Ronald Reagan named him as the U.S. ambassador to Austria, a position he held until 1987. As a Republican, he made a bid to become the mayor of New York City in 1989. Lauder manages investments in real estate and media, such as Central European Media Enterprises and Israeli TV.
In 1987, Lauder established the Ronald S.Lauder Foundation, a philanthropic organization that is dedicated to rebuild Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. On November 16, 2001 Lauder opened the Neue Galerie in New York, an art museum dedicated to art from Germany and Austria from the early 20th century. It holds one of the best collections of works by Egon Schiele in the world. On June 18, 2006, he purchased the painting ?Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I? by Gustav Klimt for $135 million, the highest price ever paid for a painting at that time.
