Anthony "Mac" Caputo

The Caputo family celebrates the life of Anthony Macdonald “Mac” Caputo, who died September 30, 2017 at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut.  He was 76.  

A loving husband, devoted father, and friend to all who knew him, Mac strove to help those in need around him in any way he could.  His love for his family and friends was pervasive, and he was genuinely at his happiest when able to ensure that those he loved were at theirs.  A gifted athlete, his fierce competitive spirit was never outpaced by his devotion to honor; his desire to win always tempered by selflessness.  His moral compass was unshakeable, always instinctively pointed at the truest North.  He sought to meet people on their terms, to truly and deeply understand their concerns and problems – not just so that he could extend a helping hand, but so that people felt special, like they really mattered to him.  To Mac, they always did. 

Mac joined Morgan Stanley in 1974.  Over his long career, Mac helped build and manage a number of key business areas for Morgan Stanley.  Early on, Mac helped oversee Morgan Stanley’s international expansion, and thereafter, helped grow the firm’s private wealth management business globally.  He later joined Barton Biggs in Investment Management, and worked directly with former Chairman and CEO Dick Fisher in the Office of the Chairman before becoming an Advisory Director in 2005, in which capacity he continued to work in the firm’s Equity Division until his passing.  Mac graduated from the University of Virginia in 1963, and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1966.  In addition to academic success, Mac was an accomplished athlete.  When he went to Virginia as an undergraduate, his father asked him to focus on his studies, and refrain from playing the two sports at which he excelled in high school — football and baseball.  Honoring his father’s wishes, Mac picked up soccer and lacrosse for the first time in his life when he got to UVA, became captain of both teams, and became a First Team All-American in lacrosse. 

Education remained a passion throughout Mac’s life, and he dedicated himself to the advancement of many of the academic institutions he loved.  Mac’s focus on supporting educational institutions was borne on both his own intellectual curiosity, but also on a pragmatic knowledge that he could help the most people in the most impactful way by expanding access to and improving the quality of education. 

Mac was a longtime member of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors, its Investment Management Company, and various other organizations at UVA, including the Jefferson Scholars Foundation.  Mac also served as the chairman of the board of directors of the Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut, overseeing the school’s building of a sprawling new campus, including a new middle school that now bears his name. 

Despite his success, Mac was a humble and grounded man, never wishing for – and in fact, actively seeking to avoid – recognition for his work.  He was interested only in the impact of his guidance, and preferred to serve others quietly, if not anonymously.  In keeping with this lifelong humility, the naming of the Brunswick Middle School had to be kept a secret from Mac prior to the ceremony to avoid his objection.  

As the grandson of immigrants that were penniless upon arriving in America in the early 1900s, but were able to put Mr. Caputo’s father and 8 siblings through college during the height of the Great Depression, Mac also focused on helping the underserved and less fortunate.  In particular, Mac served for more than two decades as a member of the Union Settlement Association’s Board of Trustees, and served on its Advisory Board until his passing. 

Notwithstanding his achievements, family mattered most to Mac, and served as his personal metric of success.  He was the most generous, honorable, and loving human his family has ever known, and there is no way to adequately express the love and concern for people — no matter their stature — that he demonstrated in everything he did.  Mac was not a man that was interested in being like other men, but rather was only ever interested in being the best man he could be, on his own terms. 

Mr. Caputo is survived by his beloved wife Ellen, his two sons Mac and Scott, their wives Aysha and Tory and his granddaughter Sophia.  Private services were held on Thursday, October 5th, and a public memorial service will be held on Thursday, October 12 at 2:30 p.m. at Saint Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan. 

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