Chicago billionaire who vowed to address violent crime dies in Colorado crash
Chicago businessman James Crown, who recently pledged to address violent crime in Chicago by enlisting fellow CEOs to join him in a massive jobs program, died Sunday in a crash while driving on a racetrack outside Aspen, Colo.
Crown, 70, was chairman and CEO of his family business, Henry Crown & Co. in Chicago, and managing partner of Aspen Skiing Co.
On Sunday, his 70th birthday, Crown was at Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek, Colo.
"He was driving a race car, and it hit a wall going around a curve," said his father, billionaire financier Lester Crown.
The Pitkin County, Colo., coroner's office, said James Crown's death was an accident.
Just weeks ago, James Crown, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, announced that he and other Chicago corporate leaders were committed to finding jobs for as many as 10,000 young men from high-crime areas of the city.
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