Rick Wilber ’69 Recognized for Gift That Pays Income for Life

Rick Wilber ’69, a businessman and investor who got in on the ground floor of several successful businesses, says that being a West Point graduate helped him get his foot in the door many times during his career. In gratitude, he and his wife Mayra established an Irrevocable Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust that will pay them income for life and eventually provide $10 million to the West Point Association of Graduates for the Superintendent’s Endowment.

In recognition of his generosity, the West Point Association of Graduates inducted Rick as a member of the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Society, a 5-Star Gold member of the Cullum Society and named the exhibit hall in the Frederic V. Malek West Point Visitors Center in his honor.

“West Point gave me an amazing lifelong education: In addition to the academics, I learned leadership skills, discipline, attention to detail, camaraderie and loyalty,” says Rick, who has lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the past 40 years. “All of those things carried into my military tenure but also into my business and personal life as well.”

Rick’s gift is funded with stock he acquired in the early stages of a start-up company that had appreciated significantly. By giving it to West Point, he avoids the capital-gain tax he would have had to pay if he sold the stock. Plus, on his income tax he gets a charitable deduction for a portion of the value of the gift.

“I was able to donate the stock with no tax liabilities and then receive interest payments for the rest of my life and the rest of my wife’s life,” Rick explains. “After we pass away, then West Point gets $10 million. Making a gift this way benefits the Academy and us as well.”

Rick grew up in Kansas and decided early on that he wanted to attend West Point. Through the years he wrote many letters to Congressman Bob Dole, himself a decorated Army veteran of World War II and later a candidate for President.

“I got extremely interested in West Point because I knew someone who was attending the Academy who was a tennis player like myself. I also often watched the TV series The Long Gray Line,” Rick recalls. “I started writing Bob Dole every opportunity I had. Any card or letter I sent regarding my achievements, whether in athletics, academics, or just a friendly holiday card was my way of showing him my extreme desire to attend the academy.”

Rick played tennis and squash at West Point all four years, serving as the captain of the tennis team his senior year. He says he struggled a bit with the rigorous academics, though he excelled in math and Portuguese. After graduation, he was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington, and then as a Captain spent six months in Vietnam. While there he met a general who tabbed Rick to be his aide de camp. Rick served in that capacity in the Military District of Washington, D.C., for the rest of his five-year commitment.

A month after he got out of the Army in 1974, Rick moved to Florida and founded Champs, a sporting goods chain of retail stores. Early on he brought in several of his West Point classmates to help with the growth of Champs.

“I was very active in sports, so it was natural to get involved in retail athletics. It was a perfect fit,” he explains. “It was a time when there were a lot of things happening: Title IX that required equality in athletic spending for women, the physical fitness craze, the growth of athletic shoe wear—it was the right time in the U.S.”

Rick opened 62 stores before selling his interest ten years later. Now Champs has 540 stores and is owned by Foot Locker. With the sale Rick began an investment strategy that would serve him well for decades and eventually fund his large gift to West Point.

“I always took stock when I could,” Rick says. “If you believe in the company, you believe in the value of it increasing.” He began investing in various companies, some of which grew substantially.

He was a director of Royce Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company based in Miami, and was an early investor in and director of Synergy Resources, an oil and gas exploration firm based in Denver. He also served in a family business as president of Lynn’s Hallmark Cards.

Rick was one of the first investors and a director in Ultimate Software, a human resource application developer that was purchased in May 2019 for $11 billion. Highly appreciated stock from that company was used to make the gift to West Point.

“Some of it I received at a very low price in the earliest stages of the company,” Rick says. “I would have had to pay a lot of capital-gain taxes on it if I sold it, so it makes the perfect gift.”

Rick urges other alumni to look at their financial situation and talk to the West Point Association of Graduates about how to best structure a gift. “Sit down with the development department and work something out that is good for the Academy and good for you,” Rick says. “You can help the Academy and get yourself some tax benefits.” Rick worked with Mike White, senior director of major gifts, who he said was a big help in setting up the charitable trust.

Rick says he “officially” retired in 2019 to enjoy time with his wife and family. In May of that year, Rick visited the Academy for the Association of Graduates’ Donor Tribute Day banquet and viewed the plaque identifying the Rick Wilber Class of 1969 Exhibit Hall.

“It felt great and it makes you proud,” he says. “It was just my third time back. I have not been involved with West Point much since graduation, and I have regrets about that, which is one of the main reasons I made this gift.”

“I am very proud to be a West Point graduate. The high academic standards along with the prestige of representing and serving our country is very fulfilling and rewarding. The respect and admiration I receive by being a West Pointer is humbling and priceless!”

The Superintendent’s Endowment exists to provide the flexibility to direct funding where it's needed most. The Superintendent can direct needed funds to any of West Point's major activities where federal funding is not currently available, ensuring that cadets have access to a wide range of opportunities and resources. The funding supports co-curricular clubs, academic trips, research projects, cultural immersion trips, capstone projects, and academic conferences. Such opportunities are truly what define the Margin of Excellence and are what make West Point the nation's top college and the world's renowned leadership development institution.