Meet Julie Macklowe, the fashionable ex-Wall Street girlie, CEO and socialite who’s calling out the Met Gala and claims she inspired Beyoncé

Sep 17 , 2024

Julie Macklowe is the founder and CEO of her own whiskey brand, The Macklowe. Photo: @jmacklowe/Instagram

After a stellar finance career, the mum-of-two started a luxe whiskey label and organic skincare line; she’s famed for throwing wild parties but is now butting heads with Anna Wintour

Prominent New York City socialite Julie Macklowe, who was once named an “It” girl by Vogue for her “singular style”, is now butting heads with the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. As a guest on Joe Pardavila’s podcast Good Listen, Macklowe threw some major shade at the Met Gala – known as the Oscars of fashion – calling it a “giant s***show”.

The serial entrepreneur also slammed the Met Gala’s shift from inviting “real, A-list celebrities” to influencers, adding, “Half the people who go there, I don’t even know who they are. And it feels like everyone’s just trying to dress naked at this point”. “Obviously I don’t care if I don’t get invited back,” she clarified. Macklowe has not attended the Gala since 2019.

So just who is Julie Macklowe, the 46-year-old who’s seemingly unafraid to take on fashion’s biggest night?

What is Julie Macklowe’s background?

Julie Macklowe worked in Wall Street for years before starting her own businesses, including The Macklowe whiskey in 2011. Photo: @jmacklowe/Instagram

Julie Macklowe (née Lerner) was born in Aspen, Colorado, to Carol Bruckner and Frank Lerner, but spent much of her childhood in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor of arts in economics and bachelor of science in finance and management information systems.

She then had a decades-long career in what she described as the “high-testosterone” world of finance, per Pursuitist, working as a portfolio manager for hedge funds at Sigma, Millennium Management and, most recently, Macklowe Asset Management. She also created the “Learn to Invest” class for young girls at Cathedral High School in New York. She is now the CIO of Macklowe Capital.

Who is Julie Macklowe married to?

Julie Macklowe and her husband, William S. Macklowe, with their daughters Zoe and Dylan. Photo: @wmacklowe/Instagram

The former Wall Street girlie’s connection to the Macklowes, who once boasted a billion-dollar empire, is through her husband, real estate mogul William S. Macklowe, better known as Billy Macklowe. The couple got married in 2004 while he was serving as the president of Macklowe Properties. He is now the founder and CEO of the real estate development and investment firm William Macklowe Company. The couple have two children together – Zoe, who was born in 2007, and Dylan, who arrived in 2018.

She also has a whiskey brand

Julie Macklowe celebrates The Macklowe whiskey in July 2022. Photo: @jmacklowe/Instagram

She might have got her start in finance, but Macklowe is quite the business heavyweight, too. In her own words, per Pursuitist, she was “hungry for success at an early age”. Macklowe launched the self-proclaimed “first luxury American single malt whiskey”, The Macklowe, in 2019. Her journey into liquid gold began when she started collecting rare whiskeys; she later became a certified whiskey ambassador – one of 200 in the world. She also started her own organic skincare line, vBeaute, in 2011, but eventually sold it to QVC.