Idan Ofer

Idan Ofer (Hebrew: עידן עופר‎; born 2 October 1955) is an Israeli billionaire businessman, with interests in shipping, drilling and mining. He is the founder of Tanker Pacific and the principal of the Quantum Pacific Group, a holding company. He is majority shareholder of the Israel Corporation, listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, as well as Kenon Holdings, listed on the Tel Aviv and New York Stock Exchange.

Idan Ofer
Born (1955-10-02) 2 October 1955[1]
Haifa, Israel
EducationUniversity of Haifa
London Business School
OccupationBusinessman
Known forShareholder of Quantum Pacific Group, Pacific Drilling, Israel Corporation, Kenon Holdings , Atlético Madrid & Futebol Clube Famalicão
Net worthUS$4.5 billion (June 2020)[2]
Spouse(s)Orly (divorced)
Romi Ben Ami (divorced)
Yifat Gurion (divorced)
Batia Perry
​
(m. 2009)​
Children5
Parent(s)Sammy Ofer
Aviva Ofer
RelativesYuli Ofer (uncle)
Eyal Ofer (brother)

Early life

Idan Ofer was born in 1955.[2] to Sammy and Aviva Ofer. His father, Sammy Ofer, was an Israeli shipping magnate originally from Romania.[2][3][4] He has a brother, Eyal Ofer.[2]

Ofer grew up in Haifa, and did his mandatory military service in the Israeli Navy, serving as deputy commander of a patrol boat. He graduated from the University of Haifa with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Shipping.[5][6] He then received a Master's in Business Administration from the London Business School in the 1980s.[5][7][8]

Career

He started his career by expanding the family shipping business in Hong Kong in the 1980s.[3][6] He then worked in Singapore and the United States.[6] In 1989, he was the founder of the Tanker Pacific, now the largest privately owned tanking fleet globally.[5]

He is the Principal of the Quantum Pacific Group, a Guernsey-based holding corporation.[2][9] He is also the majority shareholder of Pacific Drilling, a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Israel Corporation, the largest public holding listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.[2][9] He served as the Chairman of the Israel Corporation from 1999 to 2010, and as a member of its board of directors from 1999 to 2013.[5][6] He has served on the Advisory Boards of Synergy Ventures and Aspect Enterprise Solutions.[5] He was an investor in Better Place, an electric car company which went bankrupt in May 2013.[2]

In 2014, he established Kenon Holdings as a spin off from the Israel Corporation.[10][11] It is a holding company primarily focused on growth-orientated businesses in the automotive and energy industries.[12] It inherited some of the investments previously held by the Israel Corporation, such as Qoros, a joint project created in partnership with Chery Automobile that manufactures automobiles aimed towards a 'young, internationally minded' market in China.[11][13][14] Other investments include Zim Integrated Shipping Services and IC Power.[11] It also includes Inkia Energy, a Peruvian energy company and subsidiary of the IC Power.[15][16] Meanwhile, the Israel Corporation retains investments in Oil Refineries and Israel Chemicals.[11]

He serves on the Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Dean's Council of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[5][6] With Richard Branson and others, he is a co-founder of the Carbon War Room, a think tank on climate change based in Washington, D.C..[2][6][17] According to The Financial Times, he is "a Tel Aviv liberal in the mould of the old Israeli Labour party."[3]

Shortly after his father's death in 2011, he inherited half his father's fortune.[2] Additionally, he inherited half of his father's "vast collection" of modern art.[2] As a result, by 2013, he was the richest man in Israel.[9][18] According to Forbes, Idan Ofer has a net worth of $5.2 billion and is the 394th richest person in the world.[19]

Sports

In 2018, Ofer purchased a 51% stake via Quantum Pacific Group in Portuguese second league football club FC Famalicão, which he subsequently increased to 85% in 2019.[20] In 2019, Famalicão ascended to the top-tier football league in Portugal, the Primeira Liga.[21] Ofer also owns a 32% stake in Spanish football club Atlético Madrid.[22][21]

Controversies

Ofer has come under fire in Israel for evading taxes by moving to London,[23] for pollution from his chemical factories,[24][25] and for his lavish lifestyle.[26][27] In 2014, he allegedly paid Israeli espionage company Black Cube to track and eventually manipulate and exploit secretive information on the then Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid and other government officials in a bid to influence tax policy.[28]

Donations

In 2013, he donated £25 million to his alma mater the London Business School through the Idan and Batia Ofer Foundation.[7][8][29][30] As a result of the charitable gift, the largest private donation the school has ever received, the LBS built the Sammy Ofer Centre in 2017 in honor of his father.[31][7][29]

In 2013, he made a donation to the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University for the establishment of the Sammy Ofer Graduate Fellowship Fund for Emerging Leaders from Israel and Palestine, a scholarship program for Israeli and Palestinian students to attend the school.[32][33] It offers full tuition every year to four Israeli or Palestinian students who have demonstrated their commitment to fostering peace in the region.

With his wife Batia, he has made charitable contributions to the Jewish Museum London.[34]

Personal life

He has been married four times.[3] His fourth wife is Batia Ofer, a charity fundraiser.[35][36] He has five children.[2] They resided in Arsuf, near Tel Aviv, until 2013.[37] His daughter Leigh Ofer resides in New York City; his other children reside in London.[2]

References
  1. "Bloomberg profile: Idan Ofer". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. "Forbes profile: Idan Ofer". Forbes. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. John Reed, Idan Ofer: fleeing Israel’s new populism, The Financial Times, 12 April 2013
  4. Isabel Kershner, Sammy Ofer, Magnate and Israeli Power Broker, Dies at 89, The New York Times, 4 June 2011
  5. "Stocks - Bloomberg – Idan Ofer". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  6. "Who we work with | The Climate Group – Idan Ofer". theclimategroup.org. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  7. Israeli-Born Billionaire Idan Ofer Donates £25 Million to London Business School, Algemeiner Journal, 2 October 2013
  8. Sandy Rashty, Idan Ofer donates £25 million to a London business school, The Jewish Chronicle, 2 October 2013
  9. John Reed, Israel’s richest man risks anger over UK move, The Financial Times, 8 April 2013
  10. "Kenon Holdings Ltd", Reuters. Accessed 29 October 2015.
  11. Eran Hazran, In surprise move, Israel Corp. will list spin-off Kenon in Tel Aviv, Haaretz, 14 October 2014
  12. "Holdings", Kenon Holdings. Accessed 29 October 2015.
  13. Colum Murphy, Israel Corp.’s Idan Ofer Reiterates Support for Chinese Car Maker Qoros, The Wall Street Journal, 5 November 2014
  14. "China’s Newest Car Brand: Qoros", The Wall Street Journal, 28 November 2011. Accessed 29 October 2015.
  15. "Kenon Holdings: IC Power". kenon-holdings.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  16. Naomi Mapstone, Peru’s Inkia Energy sells $300m bond, The Financial Times, 30 March 2011
  17. "Home - Rocky Mountain Institute – Carbon War Room: Founders". carbonwarroom.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  18. Alistair Dawber, Israel’s wealthiest man Idan Ofer set to move to London amid tax row, The Independent, 9 April 2013
  19. "Idan Ofer". Forbes. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  20. Patrick. "Project Famalicão: The story so far and what it could mean for the future of Portuguese football". portugoal.net. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  21. Hazani, Golan (1 July 2018). "Israeli Billionaire Idan Ofer Acquires Portuguese Second League Soccer Club". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  22. "Idan Ofer increases hold on Atletico Madrid | TradeWinds". TradeWinds | Latest shipping and maritime news. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  23. "Israel's wealthiest man Idan Ofer set to move to London amid tax row". The Independent. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  24. "זיהום נחל אשלים: כיל התעלמה מ־20 שנה של התרעות על אסון מתקרב בנגב". m.calcalist.co.il. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  25. "Environment Ministry document: Acid leaks found at Dead Sea chemical site". Israel National News. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  26. "This Could Be Used by Future Historians Analyzing Israeli Decadence". Haaretz. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  27. . Avrial,Eytan "הפקרות: זה מה שלא סיפרו לכם על מסיבת הענק של עידן עופר במיקונוס", The Marker,
  28. . Avrial,Eytan "הפקרות: זה בשירות עידן עופר: ריגול עסקי אחרי שר האוצר והחשכ"לית",The Marker,
  29. Della Bradshaw, Adam Palin, Idan Ofer gives £25m to London Business School, The Financial Times, 26 September 2013
  30. Idan Ofer donates $40 million to London Business School, The Times of Israel, 1 October 2013
  31. "LBS's Sammy Ofer Centre opens its doors to the world". London Business School. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  32. "Harvard launches scholarship honoring Israeli businessman". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  33. "2018 Application Cycle Fellowship/Scholarship Information - Post #11". Harvard Kennedy School Admissions Blog. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  34. "Our supporters - The Jewish Museum London". jewishmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  35. Thomson, Alice (5 January 2019). "Batia Ofer: I work very hard at my job. It's not just picking up the phone and saying, 'Give me money'". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  36. Mance, Henry. "Inside the world of the glitzy charity fundraiser". Tatler. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  37. Eytan Avriel, Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer's moving to London. No loss to us, Haaretz, 10 April 2013
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