Eyal Ofer

Eyal Ofer
Born 1950
Haifa, Israel
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco
Nationality Israeli
Occupation Chairman, Ofer Global, Chairman, Zodiac Group and Chairman, Global Holdings[1]
Net worth $9.1 billion (September 2016)[2]
Children 4
Parent(s) Sammy Ofer
Aviva Ofer
Relatives Yuli Ofer (uncle)
Idan Ofer (younger brother)[3]

Eyal Ofer (born 1950) is a Monaco-based Israeli real estate and shipping magnate as well as a major philanthropist. He is the chairman of Ofer Global, Zodiac Group and Global Holdings. He has supported an array of artistic and education projects through the Eyal Ofer Family Foundation.

Early life

Eyal Ofer was born in 1950 in Haifa, Israel.[1][4] His father, Sammy Ofer, was a Romanian-born Israeli shipping magnate and once Israel's richest man.[1][5][6] Eyal graduated from Atlantic College, an international boarding school affiliated with the United World Colleges, based in St Donat's Castle, Wales.[7] In his teenage years, he spent summers working on the family company's ships, loading cargo, scraping the boats' sides and repainting them, as well as traveling to international ports.[4]

He served as an intelligence officer in the Israeli Air Force from 1967 to 1973.[4][7] He then studied Law in London.[4]

Career

Ofer’s business interests are concentrated in shipping, cruise lines and global real estate within the Ofer Global group,[8] a Monaco-based private company focused on shipping, real estate, banking and investments in Europe, North America, the Near East and Asia.[9]

According to Forbes, Ofer has a net worth of $9.5 billion, as of March 2016.[1]

In 2014, he received an honorary lifetime membership of the Baltic Exchange in London in recognition of his contribution to shipping in the UK and global maritime trade.[7] Other recipients of this award have included the Duke of Edinburgh, Winston Churchill, and Maersk Mc-Kinney.[10]

Later that year, Lloyd’s List named him number seven of the top 10 most influential people in the shipping industry.[11]

He is a frequent speaker at key industry events and spoke at the Milken Institute Global Conference in 2012, 2013 and 2015.[12][13][14][15]

Property

Ofer first moved to New York City in 1980 to start the family real estate business and invested in properties on Park Avenue South, which he rented to law firms and public relations firms through his real estate company, Global Holdings.[4][7] He served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Deerbrook Limited from 1991 to 2011.[7]

Ofer is the chairman of Global Holdings, a private real estate holding company specializing in large-scale commercial real estate and high-end residential developments. Its holdings include prime commercial properties in Manhattan, and a controlling stake in Miller Global Properties, a large real estate investment fund focusing on key markets in North America and Europe.[16] He serves as Miller Global's co-chairman.[17] Global Holdings' commercial projects include, among others, 120 Park Avenue – the former headquarters of the Altria Group.[18]

Its residential projects include 15 Central Park West, which was described as “the most powerful apartment building in the world” and “the most lucrative”, with quoted apartment sales of approximately $2 billion.[19][20] It was the subject of a book published in March 2014 by Michael Gross entitled "House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World’s Most Powerful Address".[21]

They also include the development at The Greenwich Lane (in partnership with the Rudin family - formerly the site of Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center), together with the redevelopment of 18 Gramercy Park South, 520 Park Avenue and 50 United Nations Plaza (all in partnership with Zeckendorf Development).[4][4][22] 18 Gramercy Park South (ranked the most expensive Manhattan development in 2013)[23] and 15 Central Park West were designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern.[20][24] 50 UN Plaza is a 44-story tower designed by London-based architects Foster and Partners.[25][26]

Shipping

Ofer started his career in international maritime transportation in all the major shipping segments in the 1980s.[7]

He is the chairman of Zodiac Group, a privately held Monaco-based shipping company with a fleet of more than 150 vessels.[1] It is the largest operator of vessels under the Red Ensign by tonnage.[27] He is the principal of OMNI Offshore Terminals, the largest provider of floating production storage and offloading (FSO & FPSO) assets to the offshore oil and gas industry. Founded 26 years ago, the Singapore–headquartered company has delivered 23 conversion projects, 2 FPSO and 21 FSO.[28]

He has been a director of Royal Caribbean Cruises, the second largest cruise company in the world, since May 1995 and holds a significant stake in the company.[7][29]

Philanthropy

Ofer is a supporter of artistic, educational and cultural institutions – including the Tate Modern and the National Maritime Museum in the UK – through the Eyal Ofer Family Foundation, which continues his family’s philanthropic tradition.[30]

Eyal was one of the donors to the Gloriana during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012.[5]

In 2013, he donated £10 million to Tate Modern, a museum of modern art based in London.[31][32] As a result, the exhibition gallery on the third floor bears his name.[5]

In December 2013, Ofer donated £1.5m to the National Maritime Museum to allow it to keep two 18th century George Stubbs paintings (Portrait of a Large Dog and The Kongouro from New Holland) in the UK after a public appeal by David Attenborough.[33]

Personal life

He is married with four children.[1] They reside in Monte Carlo, Monaco.[1] In 2008, they resided in west London and had a home in Herzliya Pituah near Tel Aviv.[6] He also owns an apartment at 15 Central Park West, a building he developed located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.[4] He has built up a significant collection of contemporary and modern art, having also inherited half of his father's "vast collection".[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Eyal Ofer". Forbes. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Eyal Ofer". Forbes. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "Eyal Ofer, Zodiac Group". Lloyd's List. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Karmin, Craig. Developers Team Up With a Man Behind the Scenes, The Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2013
  5. 1 2 3 Pickford, James. Eyal Ofer donates £10m to Tate Modern extension, Financial Times, July 2, 2013
  6. 1 2 Starkman, Rotem; Georgi, Anat. Be smart, work hard - and be born into the right family, Haaretz, April 3, 2008
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "List of Public Companies Worldwide". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  8. ↑ "Bloomberg Billionaires: Eyal Ofer". Bloomberg Billionaires. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  9. ↑ "About Ofer Global". Oferglobal.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  10. ↑ "Baltic Exchange awards honorary life membership to Eyal Ofer", All About Shipping, 10 July 2014. Accessed 5 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Eyal Ofer, Zodiac Group". Lloyd's List. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  12. ↑ "Global Conference 2012 | Eyal Ofer". Milken Institute. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  13. ↑ "Global Conference 2013 | Eyal Ofer". Milken Institute. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  14. ↑ "Downing Street welcomes shipping leaders". Thebalticbriefing.com. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  15. ↑ "Real Estate Titans and Global Investors Convene at Knowledge@Wharton Forum to Address How Emerging Economies Are Coping with the Credit Crisis", Business Wire, 29 October 2008. Accessed 5 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "Eyal Ofer", Wharton University of Pennsylvania, Accessed 21 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "US-based real estate investment company". Global Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  18. ↑ Brown, Eliot. "120 Park Avenue Sells for $525 M", Observer, 13 November 2007. Accessed 21 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "15 Central Park West | The Real Deal New York". Therealdeal.com. 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  20. 1 2 Goldberger, Paul (2008-08-31). "The King of Central Park West". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  21. ↑ "Boom with a view". The Economist. 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  22. ↑ Carlyle, Erin. "Manhattan's New Most Expensive Listing: A $130 Million Park Avenue Penthouse", Forbes, 24 September 2014. Accessed 11 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Finn, Robin. "Big Ticket - Gramercy Park Penthouse for $42 Million", The New York Times, 13 September 2013. Accessed 17 March 2016.
  24. ↑ Voien, Guelda (2014-01-07). "18 Gramercy Park ranked highest-priced new project of 2013". Therealdeal.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  25. ↑ "Norman Foster Enjoys a New York Moment". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  26. ↑ Oshrat Carmiel (2013-06-06). "NYC's Zeckendorfs Embrace Global Buyers With UN Condos". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  27. ↑ "Zodiac signals its commitment to the Red Ensign", Lloyds List, 22 March 2010. Accessed 21 October 2015.
  28. ↑ "Omni Offshore Terminals". Total World Energy. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  29. ↑ "Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. : Investor Relations : Biography". Rclinvestor.com. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  30. ↑ Pendleton, Devon. "Israeli Billionaire Ofer Makes Gift to Expand Tate Modern", Bloomberg Business, July 4, 2013. Accessed 21 October 2015.
  31. ↑ Mark Brown, Tate Modern receives £10m gift from Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer, The Guardian, 2 July 2013
  32. ↑ Ellie Armon Azoulay, Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer donates £10 million to London's Tate Modern, Haaretz, 04.07.2013
  33. ↑ "George Stubbs' kangaroo and dingo paintings to stay in UK", BBC News Online; Entertainment & Arts, 6 November 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2015
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