Whether president, mogul or innovator, death arrived in ‘18
George H.W., Mrs. Bush top list
Bloomberg
Former President George H.W. Bush, Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen were among newsmakers in government, business and finance who died in 2018.
The business world lost Ingvar Kamprad, founder of the Swedish furniture empire Ikea; Charles Lazarus, who created Toys “R” Us; Kate Spade, the fashion designer who built an accessories empire; Stan Lee, who turned Marvel Comics into a global entertainment juggernaut; and Albert Frere, the Belgian billionaire dealmaker whose empire stretched from energy to alcohol.
Financial leaders who died included billionaire financier and philanthropist Peter G. Peterson; Richard Jenrette, co-founder of the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; Martin Whitman, founder and former chief investment officer at Third Avenue Management; William Bain, who formed consulting firm Bain & Co.; and William McDonough, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Among deceased public sector figures were six-term Sen. John McCain, former CIA chief Stansfield Turner; South African anti-apartheid activist Winnie Mandela; ex-Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci; and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Here are the year’s notable deaths. A cause is provided when known.
Keith Jackson, 89. Voice of U.S. college football broadcasts for almost 40 years best known for his “Whoa, Nellie!” exclamation at big plays. Died Jan. 12.
William Bain Jr., 80. Formed Boston-based Bain & Co., a consulting firm focused on developing longterm, strategic plans for companies, and Bain Capital, a private equity company where he was a mentor to Mitt Romney. Died Jan. 16.
Stansfield Turner, 94. CIA director who replaced cloakand-dagger surveillance methods with technology to keep tabs on America’s enemies during President Jimmy Carter’s administration in the 1970s. Died Jan. 18.
Ingvar Kamprad, 91. Swedish entrepreneur who founded Ikea furniture chain and became a billionaire by selling affordable, easily transportable tables, chairs and bookcases to the masses. Died Jan. 27.
Billy Graham, 99. Christian evangelist nicknamed “God’s machine gun” who preached riveting, rapid-fire sermons to millions of people and became the confidant of world leaders including every U.S. president from Harry Truman to George W. Bush. Died Feb. 21 after developing Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer.
Roger Bannister, 88. The U.K. athlete who as a medical student six decades ago became the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes. Died March 3 following treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
Stephen Hawking, 76. British physicist and blackhole theorist whose best-selling book A Brief History of Time earned worldwide acclaim, selling at least 10 million copies. Died March 14 as one of the world’s longest survivors of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Peter G. Peterson, 91. Wall Street rainmaker with global connections who served as U.S. Commerce secretary and emerged from a fight for control of Lehman Bros. to become a billionaire as co-founder of the private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP in New York. Died March 20.
Charles Lazarus, 94. He combined supermarket-style service with touches of whimsy in creating Toys “R” Us Inc., a longtime retail success that fought high debt and fierce competition before collapsing it bankruptcy several months before his death. Died March 22.
Wayne Huizenga, 80. Billionaire entrepreneur who made Waste Management Inc. and Blockbuster Video the leaders in their industries and used his wealth to buy professional baseball, football and hockey teams in Florida. Died March 22.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 81. The former wife of Nelson Mandela whose reputation as a hero of the struggle to end white-minority rule in South Africa was damaged by kidnapping and fraud convictions. Died April 2.
Barbara Bush, 92. The wife of former President George H.W. Bush and mother ex-President George W. Bush, she embodied the old-fashioned sensibility that family comes before careers or politics. Died April 17.
Richard Jenrette, 89. Co-founded the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the first New York Stock Exchange member to go public. Died April 22 from complications of cancer. Tom Wolfe, 88. The U.S. author who took a new mixture of journalism and literary techniques to mind-bending heights in works such as The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff. Died May 14.
Philip Roth, 85. Pulitzer-Prize-winning novelist whose works such as Portnoy’s Complaint explored post-World War II America, lust and secular Judaism. Died May 22 from congestive heart failure.
Frank Carlucci, 87. He led the Defense Department under President Ronald Reagan and later expanded the influence of Carlyle Group as the investment firm’s chairman. Died June 3 of complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Kate Spade, 55. Fashion designer and handbag maker who founded her namesake brand in 1993 with her husband, Andy Spade, and sold the business to Liz Claiborne in 2006. Found dead June 5 from suicide.
Anthony Bourdain, 61. Celebrity chef in New York best known for his CNN series Parts Unknown, where he explored the culture, politics and cuisine of nations across the globe. Found dead June 8 from suicide.
Charles Krauthammer, 68. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist whose frequent appearances on cable news programs made him an influential proponent of conservative causes. Died June 21 of cancer of the small intestine.
Joe Jackson, 89. Guided his children, including Michael Jackson, to pop stardom in the Jackson 5 during the 1970s and spent the rest of his life fending off allegations of abusive parenting. Died June 27 following treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Sergio Marchionne, 66. Former CEO at London-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and architect of the automaker’s dramatic turnaround. Died July 25 following complications from surgery.
Aretha Franklin, 76. Former gospel singer who went on to reign over the music industry as the Queen of Soul with hit songs such as “Respect,” “Chain of Fools” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman” and was the first female inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Died Aug. 16 of pancreatic cancer.
Kofi Annan, 80. Ghanaian diplomat who was the first UN secretary general from sub-Sahara Africa and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. Died Aug. 18.
John McCain, 81. The 2008 Republican presidential nominee and Vietnam War hero who was a senior voice on defense and foreign policy in the U.S. Senate, where he had served since 1987. Died Aug. 25 following treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Neil Simon, 91. His Broadway plays including “Barefoot in the Park,” “The Odd Couple” and “Lost in Yonkers” made him the most commercially successful playwright of his time. Died Aug. 26 of complications from pneumonia.
Burt Reynolds, 82. U.S. actor who starred in movies such as “Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard” and “Smokey and the Bandit,” which established him as a likable, adventurous rogue. Died Sept. 6 from cardiac arrest.
Jamal Khashoggi, 59. Prominent Saudi Arabian journalist and critic of the Saudi government who lived in the U.S. and worked as a Washington Post columnist. Murdered on Oct. 2 by Saudi agents in their nation’s consulate in Istanbul.
naire who co-founded Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates and used his fortune to invest in professional sports teams, cable TV and real estate. Died Oct. 15 from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
James “Whitey” Bulger, 89. Boston mob boss and informant who corrupted FBI agents, murdered his associates and spent 16 years on the run. Found murdered in his prison cell on Oct. 30 while serving a life sentence.
Stan Lee, 95. The head of Marvel Comics who brought a modern sensibility to comic books and provided lucrative fodder for Hollywood as co-creator of imperfect superheroes such as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men and Iron Man. Died Nov. 12.
Bernardo Bertolucci, 77. Italian film director best known for the steamy Last Tango in Paris and The Last Emperor, which earned him an Oscar for directing. Died Nov. 26.
George H.W. Bush, 94. The 41st U.S. president whose single term in office was notable for its restrained response to the fall of the Soviet Union and a military victory that liberated Kuwait from an Iraqi invasion. Died Nov. 30.
Albert Frere, 92. Belgian billionaire whose investments shaped some of Europe’s largest companies in more than a half-century of deal-making. Died Dec. 3.
Penny Marshall, 75. Actress who starred in the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood with films such as “Big” and “A League of Their Own.” Died Dec. 17 due to complications from diabetes.