A moment of silence marked the halfway point of Aspen Ideas programming Monday morning in remembrance of businessman and philanthropist Jim Crown, who died Sunday at the age of 70.
Crown was a trustee of the Aspen Institute, managing partner of the Aspen Skiing Company, and the chairman and chief executive officer of Henry Crown and Company in Chicago. He died in a single-vehicle crash at the Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek on his 70th birthday; the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said the manner of death was an accident.
News of his death spurred heartfelt remarks from the Aspen community and from national leaders, including statements from two presidential administrations.
Jim and his wife Paula Crown had just joined President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for a state dinner at the White House last week, according to a statement released by the White House on Monday afternoon.
"Jim represented America at its best – industrious, big-hearted, and always looking out for each other," President Biden wrote. "He was a good man, a dear friend, and a great American."
Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama also considered Crown a "dear friend," according to a statement from former President Obama. Crown was among the "fiercest advocates and most perceptive advisors" early in Obama's political career, when he was running for the Illinois senate; Obama described Crown as a "pillar of Chicago" who cared deeply about the city and the safety of the people in it.
"He was so much more than the business or civic leader he will be remembered as," Obama wrote. "He was a dynamic and deeply devoted son, husband, father, brother and friend. We are just so lucky to have known him."
Other statements from leaders across the country reflected Crown's legacy: Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper posted that Crown was "a blessing to Colorado and the country," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote that Crown "truly embodied the soul of Chicago," and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker wrote that Crown was "kind" and "tremendously civic-minded."
In Aspen, Crown had a lasting impact on some of the town's most defining institutions. During opening remarks at an Ideas Fest panel Monday morning, Aspen Institute President and CEO Dan Porterfield paid tribute to Crown’s character and vision.
“Jim was just such a consequential human being, so kind, so generous, so thoughtful and such a leader,” Porterfield said. “He was extremely important to the Aspen Institute community in particular, and he and his family have had a decades-long association with the Aspen Institute and very much have helped make us what we are today.”
Crown was a chairman emeritus of the Institute’s board of trustees; he was also a trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry and the University of Chicago. A statement from the Institute described Crown as “a friend to so many and a consequential member of our Board of Trustees.”
And according to Walter Isaacson, a former president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, Jim’s grandfather Henry Crown helped shape the institute in its early years. Isaacson encouraged people to emulate Jim Crown’s ethos during remarks at the Monday morning panel.
“There is nobody who embodied the values of the Aspen Institute better than Jim Crown,” Isaacson said. “He personalized them in every step he took across this campus and across this world. He did so because his grandfather helped create those values.”
That embodiment of Aspen Institute values was evident in a 2013 interview, when Jim and his wife, visual artist Paula Crown, spoke to Aspen Public Radio about SkiCo’s commitment to art in its business model.
Crown cited the work of Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke, who transformed modern Aspen and were instrumental in the founding of the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Aspen Skiing Company (then known as the Aspen Skiing Corporation).
Like the Crowns, the Paepckes were based in Chicago, and the wealthy couple is credited with shaping the “Aspen Idea” of fulfilling the whole individual: mind, body and spirit.
“They certainly brought a sense of cultural appreciation to the other things that brought them to Aspen,” Jim Crown told Aspen Public Radio at the time. “And as I think you know, our credo at the Aspen Skiing Company is the renewal of mind, body and spirit. A sense of artistic place is absolutely an important part of that.”
The Crown family purchased half of the Aspen Skiing Company in 1985, and bought the remaining half in 1993. As managing partner of SkiCo, Crown oversaw decades of change and growth at the company, including several major capital improvement projects. (Crown celebrated the most recent, a renovation of Buttermilk’s base area, in a ceremony earlier this year.)
SkiCo officials mourned his death with a statement issued Monday morning.
“For the last 38 years Jim’s vision and leadership has set the path for this organization,” the statement from SkiCo reads. “His compassion and deep sense of values will leave a lasting imprint on each of us and on the future of our organization. We will mourn, and we will carry on in Jim’s honor as he would want us to do.”
In a joint venture in 2017, Henry Crown and Company and KSL Capital Partners formed Alterra Mountain Company, which now owns 16 ski resort destinations and provides access to dozens more through the multi-resort Ikon pass. (SkiCo is a separate entity from Alterra, but some Ikon passholders get a limited number of days at Aspen Snowmass.)
Alterra also released a statement on Monday, stating that company officials were “deeply saddened by the passing of our friend, colleague, and one of our founding partners, Jim Crown.”
“Jim was an exceptional individual, accomplished business leader, and a tireless community advocate,” the statement from Alterra reads. “To say that we have been fortunate to have his leadership on our board since our inception would be an understatement. His impact on us, our company, and so many others, will be felt for many decades to come.”
Spokespeople from the Aspen Institute, Alterra and SkiCo declined interviews Monday out of respect for the Crown family and their privacy. The Institute also chose to pause social media coverage of the Ideas Festival on Monday to mourn crown's death.
SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle relayed a statement on behalf of the Crown family on Sunday night, writing that the Crowns were “deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Jim Crown” and that they requested privacy “at this difficult time.”
“Further details regarding plans for a memorial to remember Jim’s remarkable life will be released at a later date,” according to the family statement.
Jim Crown was born in 1953 in Chicago, the son of Lester and Renée Crown and grandson of Henry Crown, according to an Aspen Institute biography. He lived in Chicago and had a home near Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, with an extensive reach in business and nonprofits in both cities.
According to the Aspen Institute website, Jim Crown served as lead director of the General Dynamics Corporation (which merged with Henry Crown’s Material Service Corporation in 1959) and was a director of JP Morgan Chase. He was also a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a former member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board appointed by President Barack Obama.
Jim Crown is survived by his parents and six siblings, as well as his wife, four children, a son-in-law and two grandchildren.
Note: This story has been updated to include additional statements on the death of Jim Crown, including some from President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper, Chicago Mayor Brandon Thomas and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.
