Robert Muse Bass (born 19 March 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman of Aerion Corporation, an American aerospace firm in Reno, Nevada. In 2018, he had a net worth of $5 billion. Bass has served on the Texas Highway & Public Transportation Commission.

Robert Muse Bass was born on 19 March 1948 in Fort Worth, Texas. His father, Perry Richardson Bass, was an investor, philanthropist and sailor. His mother, Nancy Lee Bass, was a philanthropist. He has three brothers: Lee Marshall Bass, Ed Bass, and Sid Bass. His uncle is Sid Richardson.^{[citation needed]}

Bass attended The Governor's Academy, and graduated from Yale University, where he received a bachelor of arts degree. He received a master in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Bass's father founded Bass Brothers Enterprises in 1960 after inheriting $11 million from his great uncle Sid W. Richardson in 1959.

In 1985, Robert Bass founded the Robert M. Bass Group as his personal investment company. In 1990, it was renamed Keystone, Inc., after the Keystone Field in West Texas from which the Bass family derived their fortune. He founded Oak Hill Capital Partners as a family office in 1986.

In April 1987, Bass and other owners of TFBA Limited Partnership bought and took private Taft Broadcasting for $1.43 billion.

In March 1988, Bass sold the Plaza Hotel to Donald Trump, thanks to their mutual friend Tom Barrack. In April 1988, he led a buy-out of Bell & Howell. In June 1988, Bass made an offer to purchase Macmillan Inc., the publishing and information company, but the company responded with a restructuring.

Bass formerly served as chairman of the board at Aerion Supersonic, a developer of supersonic business jets. Bass was replaced by Tom Vice as chairman upon the announcement of a partnership between Boeing and Aerion on February 5, 2019. It is reported Boeing invested several hundred million dollars for an approximate 40 percent share in Aerion.