Net Worth Ranker
What Is Amanda Burden’s Net Worth?
Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden, born on January 18, 1944, is an American businesswoman and urban planner. She is known for her work as the director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission from 2002 to 2013, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Currently, Amanda Burden serves as a Principal at Bloomberg Associates, an international consulting service. As of 2025, Amanda Burden’s net worth is estimated to be $200 million.
Early Life and Education
Amanda Burden’s early life was marked by her family’s prominence and wealth. She is the daughter of socialite Babe Paley and Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr., an heir to the Standard Oil fortune. Her maternal step-father was William S. Paley, the founder of CBS. Amanda’s lineage includes being a descendant of John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and a granddaughter of Dr. Harvey Cushing, a pioneer in neurosurgery. She has a brother, Stanley Grafton Mortimer III, and several half and step-siblings. She attended the Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut, and briefly attended Wellesley College before her marriage in 1964. Amanda later graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1976 with a degree in environmental science. She obtained a Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University, where her thesis focused on solid-waste management.
Career and Key Milestones
Amanda Burden’s career began with the architecture firm Gruzen & Partners, where she was mentored by urbanologist William H. Whyte. From 1983 to 1990, she was the Vice President for Planning and Design at the Battery Park City Authority, during which time she developed design guidelines for the 92-acre site and supervised the design of open spaces, including the waterfront esplanade and 30 acres of parkland. The project was initiated when Battery Park was a landfill that had sat barren for 10 years. There were plans to build a park first to see what development happened. In 1990, Amanda Burden was appointed to the New York City Planning Commission. From 2002 to 2013, she served as the Director of the New York City Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. During her tenure, nearly 40% of the city was rezoned, encompassing approximately 11,000 blocks since 2002. She also launched Vision 2020 which was a comprehensive waterfront plan. Amanda emphasized community consensus-building to improve the city’s streetscape, reclaim the waterfront, and create dynamic public spaces including the East River Esplanade and the High Line. Since 2014, Burden has been a Principal at Bloomberg Associates.
Recognitions and Awards
Amanda Burden has received several awards and honors throughout her career. She was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows in 2008 and was named the 5th most powerful person in New York real estate by The New York Observer. In 2009, Amanda Burden received the ULI’s J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, which came with a $100,000 award, and she donated the prize money to ULI.
Personal Life
Amanda Burden has been married twice. Her first marriage was to Shirley Carter Burden Jr., a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt. They married on June 13, 1964, and had two children: Flobelle Fairbanks Burden (born in 1969) and Shirley Carter Burden III, who is the founder of Logicworks. They divorced in 1972. Her second husband was Steven J. Ross, the head of Warner Communications; they married in 1979 and divorced in 1981. From 1993 to 2006, Amanda Burden was in a relationship with journalist and talk show host Charlie Rose.
