Alexander Forbes-Leith, 1st Baron Leith of Fyvie

Alexander John Forbes-Leith, 1st Baron Leith of Fyvie JP, DL (6 August 1847 – 14 November 1925), was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and US steel magnate.

Born at Aberdeen, Alexander Leith was the youngest son of Rear-Admiral John James Leith and his wife Margaret Forbes, daughter and heiress of Alexander Forbes, a descendant of Duncan Forbes, second son of the second Lord Forbes. He was the grandson of General Alexander Leith Hay and the nephew of Sir Andrew Leith Hay. He was educated at Berlin, Prussia, the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr and Dr. Burney's Naval Academy at Gosport, Hampshire. He later assumed the additional surname of Forbes.

Forbes-Leith joined the Royal Navy in 1860 with the rank of naval cadet. He was rated midshipman in 1861 and fought in the New Zealand Wars between 1864 and 1865. During his time in the Royal Navy he was awarded the Royal Humane Society Medal for saving a boy from drowning. He became a lieutenant in 1869 but retired from the service in 1872.

Forbes-Leith married the daughter of a director of an Illinois steel mill in 1871 (see below). He worked his way up in to become president of the Joliet Iron and Steel Company, which later merged into Illinois Steel and eventually the United States Steel Corporation, of which Leith became a director. He was also a partner in a merchant bank.

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