Ziff brothers

Dirk Edward Ziff was born in 1965, Robert D. Ziff in 1967, and Daniel M. Ziff in 1973. Their father was the Jewish American media magnate William Bernard Ziff Jr. (1930–2006), who had inherited Ziff Davis from his father William Bernard Ziff Sr. and built the magazine publisher that included titles such as Popular Aviation, PC Magazine, and Car and Driver.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/11/business/for-ziffs-sale-is-a-family-affair.html |work=The New York Times |title=For Ziffs, Sale Is a Family Affair |first=Geraldine |last=Fabrikant |date=June 11, 1994}} Their mother was Barbara Ingrid Beitz, an ethnic German whose parents were awarded the "Righteous among the Nations" honorific by the State of Israel for providing refuge and risking their lives to save Jews during World War II.{{cite web |url=http://yad-vashem.org.il/yv/en/righteous/stories/beitz.asp |website=Yad Vashem |title=The Righteous Among the Nations: Berthold and Elsa Beitz |access-date=April 1, 2012}}

Dirk Ziff graduated in 1981 from the Trinity School in New York City, where his father served as trustee.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/13/classified/paid-notice-deaths-ziff-william.html |title=Paid Notice: Deaths ZIFF, WILLIAM |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 13, 2006}} He later earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard. He is married to former Forbes magazine reporter Natasha Bacigalupo.{{cite news |url=http://observer.com/1999/02/sagaponack-saga-guilt-by-association-studio-54-where-are-you/ |work=The New York Observer |title=Sagaponack Saga: Guilt by Association; Studio 54, Where Are You? |first=Frank |last=DiGiacomo |date=February 22, 2009}} The couple lives in North Palm Beach, Florida and vacations at their Martha's Vineyard home. They have two children.

Robert Ziff studied undergraduate electrical and computer engineering at Harvard, graduating magna cum laude. He then attended Cornell Law School, where he graduated first in his class and was editor of the Cornell Law Review.{{cite web |url=http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/spotlight.cfm?pageid=162336 |website=Cornell Law School |title=Kevin Clermont named First Robert D. Ziff Professor of Law |access-date=May 30, 2012}} After law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Monroe G. McKay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Salt Lake City, Utah, and later served as vice president of strategic planning at Ziff Communications Company. He is married to fellow Cornell graduate and attorney Michelle Angelic Locher. They live in Manhattan with their twin sons. He sits on the board of trustees at The Browning School attended by his son Jonathan.{{cite web |url=http://www.martindale.com/Michelle-Angelic-Locher-Esq/46200668-law-firm-office.htm |website=Martindale.com |title=Profile Michelle Angelic Locher, Esq. New York, New York Office |access-date=May 30, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/alumni/foralumni/classnotes/upload/Fall2009LawForum.pdf |title=Cornell Law Alumni Forum |date=Fall 2009 |access-date=May 30, 2012}}

Daniel Ziff graduated in 1989 from the Trinity School in New York City, and later earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University. In 2009, he married Leslie Ziff, who serves on the boards of the American Ballet Theatre and Rosie's Theater Kids.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/fashion/christian-siriano-seeks-fashion-industrys-approval.html?pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |title=Moving Past 'Fierce' |first=Eric |last=Wilson |date=February 8, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.abt.org/insideabt/trustees.asp |website=American Ballet Theatre |title=Board of Trustees |access-date=June 2, 2012}} The couple later divorced, and Daniel married Brianne Garcia Ziff in 2017.{{cite news |title=Photos: Aspen Misc. |url=https://www.aspentimes.com/news/local/aspen-misc-18/ |newspaper=The Aspen Times |date=November 25, 2017}} They live in New York City.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-ziff/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924221826/http://www.forbes.com/profile/daniel-ziff |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 24, 2010 |title=#422 Daniel Ziff |magazine=Forbes |access-date=September 25, 2018}}

The Ziff brothers inherited the family fortune in 1994 after their father sold 95% of Ziff Davis to Forstmann Little for $1.4 billion and retired. William Ziff Jr. had originally wanted to pass the company on to his sons but they were not interested.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/28/business/forstmann-to-acquire-ziff-davis.html |title=Forstmann To Acquire Ziff-Davis |last=Carmody |first=Deirdre |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 28, 1994 |access-date=October 7, 2017}} Instead, they formed the Ziff Brothers Investments family office in New York City, investing their inheritances broadly across equities, debt, real estate, commodities, private equity and hedge funds. They also provided seed money to fund manager Daniel Och in exchange for a 10% stake in Och-Ziff Capital Management, which went public in 2007.{{cn|date=September 2018}} Their investments greatly expanded the brothers' fortune.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/dirk-ziff/ |title=#422 Dirk Ziff |magazine=Forbes |access-date=September 25, 2018}} {{As of|March 2018}} Forbes estimated their net worth to US$4.8 billion each.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/10/#version:static |title=The World's Billionaires – 2018 Ranking |magazine=Forbes |date=March 6, 2018 |access-date=September 25, 2018}}

In 2021, the Ziffs sold their family estate known as Gemini, which is located along South Ocean Boulevard at the south end of Manalapan near Palm Beach, for $94 million. It had initially been listed for $200 million in 2015. It was bought by Jim Clark, who then sold it to Larry Ellison for $173 million in 2022 which was the largest residential sale ever in Florida at the time.{{cite web | url=https://therealdeal.com/miami/2021/03/09/ziff-family-sells-south-florida-compound-for-94m-six-years-after-it-hit-the-market/ | title=Ziff Family Sells South Florida Estate Once Asking $200M | date=9 March 2021 }}{{cite news | last=Hofheinz | first=Darrell | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/06/23/larry-ellison-oracle-billionaire-florida-home/7717443001/ | title=Billionaire Larry Ellison buys $173 million estate, Florida's largest residential sale ever | website=USA Today | archive-url=https://archive.today/20230310152742/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/06/23/larry-ellison-oracle-billionaire-florida-home/7717443001/ | archive-date=10 March 2023}}

In 1998, Robert Ziff donated $2 million to the Harvard University men's hockey program.{{cite news |last1=Stolzar |first1=David S. |title=Men's Hockey Receives $2 Million Endowment |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/1/29/mens-hockey-receives-2-million-endowment/ |access-date=January 21, 2021 |work=The Harvard Crimson |date=January 29, 1998}} In 2008, he established the Robert D. Ziff Professorship of Law at Cornell Law School.{{cite web |url=http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/alumni/giving/endowed_funds/professorships-n-z.cfm#CP_JUMP_46997 |website=Cornell Law School |title=Robert D. Ziff Professorship of Law |access-date=May 30, 2012}} He also made headlines in 2011 for his financial contributions to Republican legislators supportive of gay marriage.{{cn|date=September 2018}} In 2018, Dirk and Daniel Ziff donated $2 million to the Center for Climate and Life, a research initiative at Columbia's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory.{{Cite web|title=Center for Climate and Life to Receive $2 Million from Ziff Family|url=https://giving.columbia.edu/center-climate-and-life-receive-2-million-ziff-family|access-date=2022-02-06|website=giving.columbia.edu|language=en}}

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Category:American billionaires

Category:American people of German descent

Category:American people of Jewish descent

Category:Ziff family

Category:American investors