Richard Thornton Wilson Jr. (September 11, 1866 – December 29, 1929) was an American investment banker and capitalist who was a prominent figure in thoroughbred horse racing in the early decades of the 20th century.

[3][1] Born in Georgia, his father was a multimillionaire railroad owner and investment banker in New York City who served as the commissary general of the Confederate States of America.

[1] In 1896, Richard Wilson Jr. and Harry Payne Whitney teamed up with a group of investors to purchase the Saratoga Race Course, which had fallen into the hands of an undesirable New Jersey brothelkeeper, Gottfried Waldbaum.

Wilson served as president of the Saratoga Racing Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses, which operated the facility.

[20][1] Marion's grandparents included Rear Admiral Charles Steedman of Charleston, South Carolina, captain of the USS Ticonderoga, and Rev.

[24] His older brother, Marshall Orme Wilson, married Caroline Schermerhorn "Carrie" Astor.

[25][26][a][28] His sister Belle married the Sir Michael Henry Herbert, the British Ambassador to the United States and the brother of the Earl of Pembroke.

[1] After an illness lasting several months, Wilson died of pneumonia at his home in New York City on December 29, 1929, at the age of 63.