James Lick (August 25, 1796 – October 1, 1876) was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences.

The wealthiest man in California at the time of his death, Lick left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.

[2] Lick's paternal grandfather, William Lük, was a German immigrant from the Palatinate, and served in the American Revolutionary War.

Lick found his time in Buenos Aires to be difficult, because of his ignorance of Spanish and the turbulent political situation in the country.

Lick arrived in San Francisco, California, in January 1848,[5] bringing with him his tools, work bench, $30,000 in gold (valued at approximately $2.75 million as of 2020), and 600 pounds (275 kilograms) of chocolate.

Lick got a touch of "gold fever" and sought to mine the metal, but after a week decided his fortune was to be made by owning land, not digging in it.

At the time of his illness, his estates, outside his considerable area in Santa Clara County and San Francisco, included large holdings around Lake Tahoe, a large ranch in Los Angeles County, and all of Santa Catalina Island,[11] making Lick the richest man in California.

Through the efforts of George Davidson, president of the California Academy of Sciences, Lick was persuaded to leave the greatest portion of his fortune to the establishment of a mountaintop observatory, with the largest, most powerful telescope yet built.

[13] The principal divisions of the funds were:[14] Lick had had an interest in astronomy since at least 1860, when he and George Madeira, the founder of the first observatory in California, spent several nights observing.

[15] In 1887, his body was moved to its final resting place, under the future home of the Great Lick Refracting Telescope.