Charles revson jr. net worth

Biography of Charles Revson

Charles Haskell Revson, an American businessman, was born in 1906 in Somerville, Massachusetts, near Boston. He was the founder of the famous cosmetics company 'Revlon'. Despite various sources suggesting he was born in Canada, Revson always considered Massachusetts as his place of birth. He came from a family with Jewish and Lithuanian roots. His mother, Jeanette Weiss Revson, came from a wealthy and aristocratic family, which greatly influenced her children in terms of style, fashion, and perfectionism.

After his mother's early death in the early 1920s, Charles moved to Boston to be closer to his mother's family. He started working in the cosmetics industry at the company 'Elka' and later decided to establish his own company. This led to the founding of 'Revlon Cosmetics', with its flagship product being nail polish. Soon, the company expanded its product range to include lipsticks.

Revson served as the president of the company from 1932 to 1962 and then worked as the chairman until his death in 1975. Throughout his life, he was not only a successful businessman but also known for his philanthropy. The 'Charles H. Revson Foundation', established during his lifetime, donated more than $10 million to the development and construction of schools and hospitals.

In addition to his successful business and powerful company, Charles Revson made history as the inventor of the formula for waterproof nail polish. Although nail polish as a decoration for nails has been known to women since ancient times, Revson introduced the formula for a long-lasting, water-resistant nail polish in the early 1930s. He also revolutionized the production of nail polishes by introducing colorful options, as they were previously semi-transparent and barely distinguishable from nail polish removers. In the late 1930s, Revson popularized the trend of matching nail polish and lipstick colors and later, in the 1950s, he began selling blood-red shades of nail polish and lipstick.

Charles Revson was married three times and had two sons from his second marriage. In his third marriage, he adopted two more sons with his new wife. He was described as a dominant and perfectionistic individual, which led to the dissolution of business relationships with some of his partners. Nevertheless, his company was phenomenally successful, and by the time of his death, Revson had become a billionaire.

Charles Revson passed away on August 24, 1975, at his home in New Rochelle, New York.