Who

One of the richest men in America thanks to the oil fortune he inherited, billionaire Sid Bass and his wife Mercedes Bass divide their time between Texas and New York.

Backstory

Bass Brothers Enterprises was founded in the 1930s by Sid's father Perry Richardson Bass and his uncle Sid Williams Richardson. The Texas wildcatters hit it big when they discovered the Keystone oil field: Within a few years they controlled more than 120 wells across the state, and they became two of the richest men in America by the 1950s.

Perry had three other sons in addition to Sid—Edward Perry Bass, Robert Muse Bass, and Lee Marshall Bass—but it was Sid who was groomed to take over Bass Brothers, and he assumed control of the company in 1968. (The decision led his brother, Robert, to go out on his own.) Since then, Bas has had his ups and downs as he's made attempts to diversify the family fortune with investments in technology, biotech, and media. Oil assets, however, still predominate Bass's portfolio, and 2005 was a particularly rough year when Hurricane Katrina destroyed one of their oil storage tanks. (Sid's net worth fell by more than a billion bucks.) The discovery of a massive oil well in Nova Scotia in 2006 and rising oil prices have since revived Bass's fortunes.

Keeping score

Bass is worth $3 billion, making him the 134th richest person in the United States according to Forbes.

Family ties

Sid's younger brother, Robert Bass, is the founder of Oak Hill Capital Partners, a $12 billion Texas-based private equity fund that controls Duane Reade and the Container Store, among other companies. (Robert's wife, Anne T. Bass, should not be confused with Sid's ex-wife, who is Anne H. Bass.) Two other brothers, Edward Bass and Lee Bass, are both investors in Fort Worth.

Pet causes

The Basses remain among the city's most generous supporters of the arts. They've donated substantial sums to Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and MoMA, where Sid is a trustee. They're one of the leading donors to the Metropolitan Opera, having given a record $25 million to the opera house in 2006. Sid is also a generous donor to his alma mater, Yale, as are his three brothers.

Personal

Sid's first marriage to Anne H. Bass came to an end in 1986 when Sid met Mercedes Kellogg, the wife of Ambassador Francis L. Kellogg. Both left their respective spouses to be together, and Anne Bass received an estimated $200 million in the divorce settlement. (In the spring of 2007, Anne was in the news after she was briefly held hostage as part of an attempted robbery at her Connecticut home.) Sid and Mercedes were married in December 1988; the lavish wedding was one of the most talked-about society events of the year. They divide their time between Fort Worth, Tex. and an apartment on East 66th Street. (Fellow residents of their building include Ezra Zilkha and Alan Greenberg.) They also have a ski house in Aspen.