Carl J. Shapiro

Who is Carl J. Shapiro?

Carl J. Shapiro is an American philanthropist and entrepreneur. He lives in Boston and Palm Beach. His wife, Ruth, died in 2012 at the age of 95. In 1939, he founded Kay Windsor, Inc., in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and built it into one of the largest women's apparel companies in the country. He is its former president and chairman of the board, and was director of Vanity Fair Corp., which acquired Kay Windsor in 1971. He retired in 1976. The Shapiros have three daughters. Carl turned 100 in February 2013.

His daughter Ellen is married to Robert M. Jaffe, a money manager from Boston and Palm Beach, Florida. Another daughter, Rhonda Zinner, was on the Brandeis Board of Trustees, and was a key organizer and planner in the family's philanthropic causes and projects, including the University's new campus center.

He is among a group of investors who have experienced potential losses between $100 million and $1 billion in the Bernard Madoff hedge fund scheme. He is considered a benefactor of Madoff. It has been reported that a criminal investigation has commenced regarding his alleged complicity in the Madoff affair.