According to Forbes Magazine, American investor Wilbur has an estimated net worth of $3 billion as of May 2015 according to Forbes. He is also #554 in the World Billionaires List (#578 in 2012), #194 in the United States, and #206 in Forbes 400 List. Born Wilbur L. Ross on November 28, 1937 in Weehawken, New Jersey, he graduated with a B.A. from Yale University and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. While at Yale, he already has a summer job on Wall Street with the help of his faculty adviser.

In 1976, Ross joined Rothschild where he became the head of its bankrupt advisory practice. In 2000, he left the firm to build his own company, WL Ross & Co. He bought it out through his equity fund with $440 million in investor money. He had four top managers for his staff that make up his investment committee. In April 2005, he sold the Ohio-based International Steel Group, Richfield, for $4.5 billion to Mittal Steel Company.

Wilbur Ross is known as the turnaround financier in the United States and has been buying companies in the distressed assets market. In December 2012, he announced that he plans to acquire a third of NBK, a U.K. buyout firm. He is also offloading assets which included the selling of Homeward Residential, a firm that collects mortgage payments, in October 2012, to Ocwen Financial Corp., mortgage-service lender for $750 million. In the early of 2013, his stake in the Bank of Ireland has gained in value about 9% as the Irish economy has started to recover.