Houston philanthropist, businessman Fayez Sarofim dies at 93

Houston philanthropist and noted investment counselor Fayez Sarofim died Saturday, according to a spokeswoman for his family. He was 93. At one time, Sarofim was the wealthiest man in Houston, amassing wealth after founding the Fayez Sarofim & Co. investment counseling firm in 1958, which is now one of the largest privately held firms of its kind in the country. Fayez was born in Egypt and eventually graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a food technology degree and an MBA from Harvard University. Within five years of launching his firm, Sarofim was managing a corporate retirement fund for Brown & Root and the endowment of Rice University, then valued at $63 million. “When he arrived here, he very quickly identified Houston as a can-do city that was growing rapidly and had everything in place to continue that growth,” said his eldest son, Christopher Sarofim, who is succeeding his father as chairman of Fayez Sarofim and Co.

“And another aspect of Houston that may have come as a surprise back then was how welcoming the city was to an Egyptian immigrant,” Christopher Sarofim said. Forbes estimated Fayez Sarofim was worth $1.6 billion in May. Those who remain at his company said that his high ethical standards and keen eye for quality in his investments made everyone around him better. “He enjoyed a lot of success, but that success never came at anybody else’s expense. He really focused on having a strong sense of ethics in everything that he did, and he set a high standard for those around him as far as how he conducted himself,” said Gentry Lee, CEO of Fayez Sarofim and Co. and a longtime friend of Sarofim’s. Sarofim’s work handling the investments of Rice University, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and other large charities also gave way to large charitable contributions, said Gary Tinterow, MFAH director. He pledged $77 million to the museum's $450 million expansion, and the campus now bears his name. "He certainly is one of Houston’s most important and impactful philanthropists over the past 50 years," Tinterow said. "His role at the museum has been extraordinary."