Craig M. Hatkoff (born March 19, 1954) is an American real estate investor from New York City. Along with his now ex-wife Jane Rosenthal, and

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

, he co-founded the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

and the Tribeca Film Institute in 2002. The three were recipients of the inaugural September 11 National Museum and Memorial Foundation "Notes of Hope Award" for Distinction in Rebuilding in September 2008.

Early life and education

Hatkoff was born to a Jewish family in upstate New York, the son of Doris (née Wildove) and Leon Hatkoff.New York Times: "Hatkoff, Doris Wildove"
March 18, 2007 He is a 1972 graduate of

The Albany Academy The Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school for boys in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool (age 3) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Rensselae ...

, and graduated from

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theolog ...

. He received an MBA from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He has two sisters; his sister Susan is married to investor

Alan Patricof Alan Patricof (born 22 October 1934) is an American investor, one of the early pioneers of the venture capital and private equity industries. He founded Apax Partners (based on a play on Patricof's name: Alan Patricof Associates Cross (x) Border) ...

Career

Hatkoff wrote ''Owen & Mzee: The True Story Of A Remarkable Friendship'' which describes the friendship between a tortoise and an orphaned hippopotamus in Kenya after the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

. Other works include ''Good-Bye, Tonsils'' (2001), ''Knut: How one little polar bear captivated the world (2007)'' about the polar bear cub

Knut Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used ...

from the

Berlin Zoo The Berlin Zoological Garden (german: link=no, Zoologischer Garten Berlin) is the oldest surviving and best-known zoo in Germany. Opened in 1844, it covers and is located in Berlin's Tiergarten. With about 1,380 different species and over 20,2 ...

and "Looking for Miza" and "Cecil's Pride". "Looking for Miza" and "Cecil's Pride" both were written together with his two children. ''Winter's Tail'', (

Scholastic Books Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

, 2007, ) is about the disabled dolphin

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

. The Hatkoff's series of children's books have won numerous prestigious awards including the American Book Association Book of the Year and the Christophers Award. Owen and Mzee has been published in 17 languages including Swahili, Braille, Arabic and Hebrew. One of Turtle Pond Publications significant investments is Fillpoint LLC a videogame e-commerce direct-to-consumer distribution and fulfillment provider. In February 2009, Fillpoint acquired from the Handleman Company the much larger videogame distribution and publishing operations SVG Distribution and Crave Entertainment, that focus on in-store distribution platform.

Tribeca Film Festival

In 2002, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff founded the

in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. .

Other endeavors

Hatkoff is Chairman of Turtle Pond Publications which owns or invests in a number of new media, entertainment and publishing ventures.

Board seats

Hatkoff is the co-founder of Capital Trust and was on the board of directors. Hatkoff is active as a board member of both public as well as non-profit boards. He is on three public company boards that include Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) and SL Green (NYSE: SLG), two of the country's largest REITs, as well as Subversive Capital Acquisition Corp, a SPAC that is expected to convert into a REIT during 2020 and trades on the Canadian NEO stock exchange. He was also a director of Taubman Centers Inc (TCO) from 2004- 2019 and was a co-founder of Capital Trust along with Samuel Zell, the legendary Chicago based billionaire investor, where he was vice chairman. Hatkoff cofounded the Disruptor Foundation in 2009 along with the late Professor

Clayton M. Christensen Clayton Magleby Christensen (April 6, 1952January 23, 2020) was an American academic and business consultant who developed the theory of "disruptive innovation", which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century. ...

of the Harvard Business School. The foundation convenes and produces the annual Disruptor Awards that were launched in 2010 with over 250 honorees since its inception. The foundation also publishes the ''Off White Papers'' which has been published in Forbes magazine as well as Big Think. He has been on the boards of other non-profits including Sesame Workshop, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Wildlife Direct, Borough of Manhattan Community College Foundation, the Child Mind Institute, the Tribeca Film Institute of which he was a co-founder, the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation and the Mandela Institute for Humanity.

Personal life

In 1995, Hatkoff married Jane Rosenthal; they have two children. In 2014, Rosenthal and Hatkoff announced their divorce after 19 years of marriage.

References

External links

Owen and Mzee's official webSite

Forbes Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatkoff, Craig American publishers (people) 1954 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American children's writers Writers from New York City Businesspeople from New York City Colgate University alumni Columbia Business School alumni The Albany Academy alumni 21st-century American Jews