Roland W. Betts

Roland Whitney Betts (born May 25, 1946) is an investor, film producer, developer, and owner of Chelsea Piers in New York City. A classmate and Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity brother of George W. Bush, Betts was the lead owner in Bush's Texas Rangers partnership. He is a graduate of St. Paul's School ('64), Yale ('68) and Columbia Law School ('78).

Roland and Lois Betts celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2012. They have two daughters, Margaret and Jessica.

Betts was born in Laurel Hollow, Long Island, the son of an investment banker for the Vincent Astor Foundation. He grew up in Syosset, Long Island.

In 1968, after graduating from Yale, Mr. Betts worked as a teacher and assistant principal until 1975. In 1978 Betts wrote Acting Out: Coping with Big City Schools, a book which explores his experiences in the public school system. After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1978, he practiced law in the entertainment department at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison until leaving to finance movies. In 1980 he was named the President of International Film Investors, Inc., which produced and financed movies like Gandhi and The Killing Fields. In 1983 he founded Silver Screen Management, Inc. (see Silver Screen Partners) with Tom Bernstein, which financed and produced over 75 films with the Walt Disney Company, including Pretty Woman, The Rocketeer, and Three Men and a Baby.

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