Ben Ashkenazy

{{Infobox person

| name = Ben Ashkenazy

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |48|2017|12|27}}{{cite web|title=Forbes profile: Ben Ashkenazy|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ben-ashkenazy/|website=Forbes|accessdate=February 6, 2024}}

| birth_place = Israel

| death_date =

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| nationality = American

| education =

| alma mater = Adelphi University (did not graduate)

| occupation = Businessman

| known for = Founder, CEO and majority owner of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation

| boards =

| spouse = Debra Ashkenazy

| children = 3

}}

Ben Ashkenazy (born 1969) is an Israeli-American billionaire real estate developer. He is the founder, CEO, and majority owner of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, which has a $12 billion property portfolio. As of February 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$2.6 billion.

Early life

Ashkenazy was born in Israel, and grew up in Lawrence, Long Island, New York, the son of Izzy Ashkenazy, also a real estate businessman.{{cite web|url=https://therealdeal.com/new-research/topics/people/ben-ashkenazy/|title=Ben Ashkenazy|publisher=|accessdate=December 27, 2017|archive-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228135306/https://therealdeal.com/new-research/topics/people/ben-ashkenazy/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-14/new-york-s-plaza-hotel-is-in-the-sights-of-this-shy-billionaire|title=New York's Plaza Hotel Is in the Sights of This Shy Billionaire|newspaper=Bloomberg |date=September 14, 2017|publisher=|accessdate=December 27, 2017|via=www.bloomberg.com}} He is of Jewish descent.{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= The World's Jewish Billionaires |website=Forbes Israel|date=February 2, 2023 |url= https://forbes.co.il/e/rankings/2022-jewish-billionaires/ |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}

Career

Ashkenazy bought his first property at the age of 18. He attended night classes at Adelphi University, but did not graduate.

In 1987, he founded Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.

In 2013, his company bought London's Old Spitalfields Market, but later sold it. In July 2017, the company bought London's Grosvenor House Hotel for about $750 million.

His company holds a long-term lease agreement with the City of Boston for Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace, leases Washington DC's Union Station, and has a $70 million stake in New York's Plaza Hotel.{{cite web|url=https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/does-ashkenazy-have-an-inside-track-at-the-plaza/|title=Does Ashkenazy have an inside track at the Plaza?|publisher=|accessdate=December 27, 2017}}

In November 2019, his company purchased the 83,923-square-foot Ferndale Shopping Center in Larchmont for a price exceeding $35 million.{{Cite web|url=https://westfaironline.com/118773/ashkenazy-buys-ferndale-shopping-center/|title=Ashkenazy buys Ferndale Shopping Center; second in Westchester in two weeks|last=Katz|first=Peter|date=November 19, 2019|website=Westfair Communications|language=en-US|access-date=March 24, 2020}}

Personal life

He is married to Debra Ashkenazy, they have three children, and live on New York City's Fifth Avenue.{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2002/12/03/whos-the-boss/|title=Who's the Boss?|date=December 3, 2002 |publisher=|accessdate=December 27, 2017}}

He hired rapper Drake to perform at his daughter's bat mitzvah in the Rainbow Room.

Ashkenazy is a minority owner of Euroleague Basketball club Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C.{{citation needed|date= February 2022}}

References

Category:Living people

Category:1960s births

Category:American billionaires

Category:American company founders

Category:People from Lawrence, Nassau County, New York

Category:American businesspeople in real estate

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:American people of Israeli descent

Category:21st-century American Jews