Morton May
| Morton D. May | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 25, 1914 |
| Died | April 13, 1983 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | CEO of May Company |
| Spouse(s) | Lucia P. May |
| Children | David A. May Philip F. May Morton J. May II |
| Parent(s) | Sarah Hirsch May Morton J. May |
| Family | David May (grandfather) |
Morton D. May (25 March 1914 – 13 April 1983) (known as Buster to his friends and colleagues) was an American philanthropist and art collector. He was also at various times director, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of the May Department Stores Company.
May was born to a Jewish family, the son of Sarah (née Hirsch) and Morton J. May. He was the grandson of David May, who started the family in merchandising from a canvas roofed makeshift shop, in the then populous city of Leadville, Colorado, during a gold strike in 1877. He soon came to the conclusion that there was no future there, and moved his business across the nation a few times finally setting in 1893 in St. Louis, Missouri. He opened a store called Famous Clothing. Later he bought out the William Barr Dry Goods Co., and Famous-Barr was created. Morton J. May, David May's son took over the family enterprise, and ran it successfully for many years during Morton D. May's childhood. Morton D. May lived a life of privilege, attending St. Louis's Country Day school, and then Dartmouth College.
Despite his privileged position as heir to May Department Stores fortune, May started out his career with a summer position in the complaints department. After that he held nearly every position from janitor to chairman of the board. In 1951 he was elected president of the corporation, a position which he held until 1967. Then he was chairman of the board until 1972. He was also chief executive officer from 1957 to 1968. He retired from the corporation's board of directors in 1982 and was elected director emeritus.
May became interested in collecting art through his uncle by marriage Samuel Abraham Marx in the early 1940s but was interrupted by World War II. When the war was over he traveled to galleries in New York and began investigating the paintings of American artists and Cubists, but soon his interests drifted elsewhere. He was well known for not being a fashionable collector. When his contemporaries were buying School of Paris pictures, May was buying tough German Expressionist pictures that turned out to be masterpieces.
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