Finn M.W. Caspersen | Beneficial ex-CEO, 67
Finn M.W. Caspersen, 67, a former chief executive of the financial services firm Beneficial Corp., died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in Westerly, R.I., Police Capt. Edward St. Clair said.
Finn M.W. Caspersen, 67, a former chief executive of the financial services firm Beneficial Corp., died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in Westerly, R.I., Police Capt. Edward St. Clair said.
Police found Mr. Caspersen's body on the grounds of the Shelter Harbor Golf Club after being asked to check on him Monday by a concerned family member.
Mr. Caspersen, a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, was a philanthropist and fund-raiser who had served as chairman and chief executive of Beneficial from 1976 to 1998. The company was later sold and is now part of HSBC.
He was a major benefactor to hospitals and universities, including Harvard, and Republican politicians. He was also former chairman of the U.S. equestrian team.
He was a close political ally of former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean Sr., who won races for governor in 1981 and 1985 with Mr. Caspersen's help.
He gave $5 million to Drew University while Kean was president, and gave generously to Peddie School, a private boarding school in Hightstown. Mr. Caspersen led a record-setting fund-raising drive for Harvard Law School, and a room at the library there bears his name.
- AP