Robert Warren Miller

Robert Warren Miller Biography

Robert Warren Miller (May 23, 1933, Quincy, Massachusetts) is a billionaire, entrepreneur, co-founder of DFS (Duty Free Shops), and sailing champion.

Education and Family

Miller was born in Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, the son of Ellis Warren Appleton Miller (1898 - c. 1986), a bookkeeper, salesman, and descendant of several Mayflower passengers; and Sophia "Sophie" June Squarebriggs (1899 - 1998), a Canadian-born former governess. Miller's ancestry is rooted in the British North American colonial elite, and descends over time, he claims, from Henry I Angevin, Louis IV the Carolingian, and William, King of the Scots.

Miller attended Cornell University School of Hotel Management and graduated in 1955, with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and the Irving Literary Society.

Duty Free Shoppers (DFS)

The concept of "duty free shopping" - offering high-end concessions to travelers, free of import taxes - was in its infancy when, with Chuck Feeney and one other person, Miller founded DFS on November 7, 1960.

DFS began operations in Hong Kong, where it still maintains its corporate headquarters, later expanding to Europe and other continents. DFS' first major breakthrough came in the early 1960s, when it secured the exclusive concession for duty free sales in Hawaii, allowing it to market its products to Japanese travelers. DFS eventually expanded to off-airport duty free stores and large downtown Galleria stores, and became the world's largest travel retailer. In 1996, Miller's and Feeney's interests were acquired by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), the French luxury goods group, for $1.63 billion.

Miller remains a significant minority shareholder (38%) in DFS alongside LVMH, which bought out Feeney's share. More recently, Miller targeted the emergence of mainland China's economic elite. To present its new merchandise, DFS has moved beyond the airport liquor store venue and into store environments, seeking to market the broadest portfolio of brand names in the travelling marketplace. In 2010, the DFS Group had an estimated sales of about "?2.2 billion. The group's headquarters is located in San Franciscio and is a division of LVHM. As of 2012, it has 150 stores in 15 Pacific states. Its downtown activities operate under the Galleriera name.

Miller was named the November 2010 Personality of the Month by The Moodie Report in recognition of his advancement of the luxury goods industry's cause. That year, Duty Free Shops (DFS) celebrated its 50th anniversary at the DFS Galleria Sun Plaza store in Hong Kong, with a gala attended by 2000 guests, and featuring a performance by Wyclef Jean.

Search Investment Group Ltd

In 1973, Miller founded Search Investment Group Ltd, an international investment company of which he is CEO and chairman. The Search investment Group Ltd is a large shareholder in Ortelius Capital Partners, which is an investment firm founded by Miller's son-in-law HRH Prince Pavlos of Greece and Mr. Peter DeSorcy. He is also principal of SAIL advisors (Search Alternative Investments Ltd), global investors in hedge funds. Along with other assets, Miller is currently ranked the 68th richest person in the U.K., down from 22nd in 2003.

Sailing Records

In October, 2003, Miller's monohull yacht, the Mari-Cha IV, set a new world record, becoming the first monohull ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean in under seven days. During the same crossing, the yacht also broke the 24-hour distance record, by sailing in just 24 hours. Both he and his son-in-law Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, son of King Constantine II of Greece were crew members. In 2005, the Mari-Cha IV competed in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge and broke the 100-year-old record for a West to East transatlantic crossing by 2 days, 5 minutes and 56 seconds.

On Apr. 30, 2005, the Mari-Cha IV won the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge and broke the century-old record established by Charlie Barr. The Mari-Cha completed the 2,925-nautical mile passage, across the North Atlantic between New York and England in a time of 9 days, 15 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds--a full 2 days, 12 hours, 6 minutes and 56 seconds faster than the previous record 100 years earlier. During the record-breaking crossing, Miller pushed the Mari-Cha III beyond its limits in poor weather, and the mainsail headboard and the headboard cars on both mainsail and mizzen broke.

Family and Home Life

Miller is married to the former María Clara "Chantal" Pesantes Becerra (born 1940), a native of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Their three daughters, a trio often referred in society pages as "The Miller Sisters," are Pia (born 1966), who married Christopher Getty, grandson of Jean Paul Getty; Marie-Chantal (born 1968), who married Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece and is styled "Crown Princess of Greece and Denmark"; and Alexandra (born 1972), who married Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg. Miller has eleven grandchildren.

Miller, who is now a British citizen, remains based in Hong Kong but has houses in London, New York, Paris, Hong Kong,and Gstaad. He also owns the Gunnerside Estate in Yorkshire, one of the largest country estates in Britain.

Associations

Miller is a Trustee of the Asia Society, the Independent Non-Executive Director and Member of the Remuneration Committee of Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd., and Presidential Councilor and Trustee Emeritus of Cornell University.