John Kluge, who owned Morven Stud in Virginia and once was listed as the richest person in the United States, died Sept. 7 at his Charlottesville, Va., home. He was 95.
Kluge purchased Morven in 1988, after which he raced nine stakes winners in the farm name, including grade I performers Buy the Firm, Lady in Silver, and Unaccounted For.
Buy the Firm won the 1991 Top Flight Handicap (gr. I), and Lady in Silver ran second to subsequent champion Steinlen in the 1989 Arlington Million (gr. IT). Unaccounted For captured the 1995 Whitney Handicap (gr. I) and placed third and second respectively behind Cigar in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I).
Kluge was born in Germany and moved with his family to the U.S. as a youth. A graduate of Columbia University, he worked in Army intelligence during World War II.
Kluge had interests in numerous businesses, including Metromedia, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Ice Capades. He dispersed his Thoroughbred stock in 2000 and later donated Morven Stud and additional acreage to the University of Virginia.