John H. H. Phipps

John H. H. Phipps (a.k.a. Ben Phipps) was an American heir, businessman, plantation owner, conservationist and polo player. He owned radio and television stations in Florida and Georgia.

His father was John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958) and his mother, Margarita Celia Grace (1876-1957). He had two brothers, Michael Grace Phipps (1910–1973) and Hubert Beaumont Phipps (1906–1969), and one sister, Margaret Phipps Boegner (1906-2006). His paternal grandfather was Henry Phipps, Jr. (1839–1930) and his maternal grandfather was Michael P. Grace (1842-1920). He grew up at Old Westbury Gardens in Old Westbury, New York.

He attended Groton School, a private boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts, but he was expelled after he brought a skunk into the church. He transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy, another private boarding school in Exeter, New Hampshire. He graduated from Yale University, where he played on the polo team.

He purchased radio stations in the Tallahassee area in the 1940s and in Georgia in the 1950s. He also owned the WCTV television station in the Tallahassee-Thomasville, Georgia area.

He was involved with the Phipps-Florida Foundation, the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, and the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy. He served on the Board of Trustees of the New York Zoological Society from 1941 to 1980. He was also a patron of the American Museum of Natural History.

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