C.V. Whitney, Pan Am Founder

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, who inherited millions and made millions more as a horseman, businessman, aviation pioneer and movie producer, died Sunday at age 93.

"Sonny" Whitney, as he was known to friends, was a chairman of Pan American Airways, an owner of top thoroughbreds, including two Belmont Stakes winners, and a multimillionaire patron of the arts.

A descendant of Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin, Mr. Whitney was born Feb. 20, 1899. He attended Groton and Yale, was a fighter pilot in World War I and returned to military service in World War II.

His mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, was a sculptor who founded the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. She was a great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who amassed a fortune in steamships and railroads.

While still in his 20s, Mr. Whitney started his own fortune, parlaying a $3,150 investment into half a million dollars. With that money he co-founded the airline that became Pan American Airways, which he chaired until 1941.

He sold some of his Pan Am stock to found the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., which he chaired until 1964. He also founded Marineland, the country's first oceanarium, near St. Augustine, Fla.

His horses won 176 stakes races, including the Belmont Stakes with Phalanx in 1947 and Counterpoint in 1951.

In government, he served as assistant secretary of the Air Force in 1947-49 and as undersecretary of commerce in 1949-50.

Well-known as a patron of the arts, he was a past trustee of the Whitney Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History.