Ray Chambers

Raymond G. Chambers (born August 7, 1942) is a philanthropist and humanitarian who currently serves as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Health in Agenda 2030 and for Malaria. Chambers' philanthropic efforts are diverse, with major focus areas in global health, mentoring, and revitalizing his home city of Newark, New Jersey.

Born and raised in the West Ward of Newark, Chambers attended West Side High School.

Chambers attended Rutgers University–Newark where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and earned an MBA from Seton Hall University in 1968.

Chambers is the former Chairman of Wesray Capital Corporation, a private equity holding company which he co-founded with William E. Simon, the former United States Secretary of the Treasury. The "WES" in the firm's name represented Simon's initials and "RAY" was for Chamber's first name. Their first big coup was the leveraged buyout of Gibson Greetings from RCA in 1981 for $80 million, with each partner contributing $330,000 and the balance paid for with loans; After taking Gibson public in 1984, each partner walked away with a profit exceeding $70 million.

After Simon ended his active involvement in the firm's management, Chambers was responsible for deals including the 1985 purchase of Avis Rent a Car System, which was sold 14 months later to an for $1.75 billion along with the sale of other Avis assets for $674 million, netting a profit of $740 million on a $10 million capital outlay.

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