Michael Lewis Ainslie

Michael Lewis Ainslie, a trustee since 1991, earned a B.A. degree in economics from Vanderbilt University in 1965. After studying economic development overseas on a Corning Foundation World Travel Fellowship, he received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1968.

He worked as an associate in McKinsey and Company’s New York office and then served as president of Palmas del Mar, a Sea Pines Company subsidiary. His longstanding interest in architecture and preservation eventually attracted him to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he served as president and CEO from 1980 to 1984. In 1984, he became president and chief executive of Sotheby’s Holdings, the parent company of Sotheby’s auction and real estate businesses. He held this position through 1993.

Today, Mr. Ainslie is chairman of the Posse Foundation, an organization that grants university scholarships to outstanding graduates of public high schools in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He also heads the investment company Ainslie Ventures, Incorporated.

He is a director of two New York Stock Exchange–listed companies, Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc., and the St. Joe Company.

He resides in Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife, Suzanne. He is the father of Liza, Robbie Ann, Katherine, Michael, and Serena.