Obituary: Fred Kirby, Insurance Tycoon and Philanthropist, Dies at 91
February 14, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Fred Morgan Kirby II, who built the Alleghany Corporation into a national insurance giant and built his family’s charity into a $400-million foundation, died last week at age 91, The New York Times reports.
An heir to the Woolworth retail fortune, Mr. Kirby took over leadership of Alleghany and the F.M. Kirby Foundation in 1967 after his father suffered a debilitating stroke. The foundation, created in 1931 by Mr. Kirby’s grandfather, has distributed some $400-million in its 80 years and had assets of more than $408-million at the end of 2009.
The foundation was also at the center of a family feud in the 1980s, when Mr. Kirby’s brother and two sisters sought to exert more control over the charity. Mr. Kirby, who had appointed his wife and four children to leadership roles, prevailed over his siblings in the court battle.
