"It was a matter of perception. I knew we had to have it," says Perelman, 90, a museum trustee for more than 30 years who served as chair from 1997 to 2001 and now is chairman of its executive committee. "The building had come up for sale around 25 years earlier and we passed. Someone had to step up to the plate."
Though Perelman rarely grants interviews, he's hardly shy. He's a straight-talking, no-nonsense workaholic, a pistol who, by his estimation, has "bought and sold between 30 or 50 companies" in his lifetime, mostly old-fashioned manufacturing concerns. It's easy to sense that he's a bull when it comes to business.
"All successful people are risk-takers," he says. "And I always wanted to be successful."
Ruth, 86, is more retiring, a woman of few words, comfortable with letting her husband hold center court but quick to correct him when she disagrees. "I had a clue, though I had no idea he would be this successful," she says of her husband of 66 years. "He just felt he had to do these things. It's a fire in his belly."
"She's sort of the quiet authority," according to their older son, Ronald O. Perelman, the hugely successful New York financier.
"He can be tough. He's very persistent in his analysis," says Ron, 64, who first started watching his father at work when he was 12. "That's a quality we all have, both a plus and a minus."
He and Jeffrey, 58, worked for their father before going out on their own, both somewhat thwarted by his unwillingness to retire or relinquish majority control. Today Ron is the nation's 40th-richest citizen, worth $7 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Jeffrey, who lives in Wynnewood, runs his own holding company. All three Perelmans are in the business of buying and selling companies.
