Donald Elias Zilkha (born April 8, 1951) is an American financier and businessman. He was born in New York and was a graduate of

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

He founded Zilkha & Company (1987) and Zilkha Venture Partners (1999) and Zilkha Partners (2008).

Early life

He is the son of Ezra Zilkha. The Zilkha family were bankers from the Middle East. The patriarch

Khedouri Zilkha Khedouri Aboody Zilkha (1884–1956) was an Iraqi-Jewish banker. Early life Khedouri Zilkha was born in Baghdad in 1884 (or 1886), the only son of the textile merchant Aboudi Zilkha (1862–1904). Career He started as a banker in Baghdad in 1902 ...

established the bank in 1899. The family was nationalized in three countries, from 1950 to 1956 (Iraq, Syria and Egypt) and had to rebuild in the US and Europe. Zilkha attended Lycee Francais de New York before attending high school at

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

. He entered

, where he graduated from the College of Social Studies in 1973.

Career

Zilkha joined J.P. Morgan in 1973 and worked for the bank in positions of increasing responsibility in tax incentivized transactions, restructuring and mergers & acquisitions. In 1982, he joined James D. Wolfensohn & Company where he had responsibility in mergers & acquisitions and venture capital. In 1987, Zilkha formed his own investment advisory boutique, Zilkha & Company, focused on strategic development and mergers & acquisition transaction for blue chip Australian and European companies. By 1994, Zilkha assumed a principal role in the acquisition of

Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and is now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the s ...

, the historic American firearms manufacturer. The company had struggled in

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

for four years and Zilkha bought 95% of the business which he restructured over 19 years. Subsequently, Zilkha and his firm became involved in several other private equity transactions. In 1999, Zilkha established Zilkha Venture Partners. In 2001, Zilkha became associated with Yale's Sachem Ventures. In 2008, Zilkha formed Zilkha Partners L.P. which has a concentrated portfolio of investments in US publicly traded small capitalization companies.

Personal life

Zilkha is married to Ingrid Virginia Urrutia Soler and they have three children. His prior marriage to Valerie Kleinprintz ended in divorce (2003). Zilkha is a trustee emeritus of Wesleyan University . He is a member of

The Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

and on the Business Council of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York Zilkha is involved in various wine and food groups. He served as Maitre of the Commanderie de Bordeaux (2012-2017) was a founder of the Commanderie des Costes du Rhone (2008) and currently is responsible for Lex XXVI.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zilkha, Donald Living people 1951 births

Donald Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...