Ben Ashkenazy (born 1969) is an Israeli-American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

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 Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, Long Island, New York, the son of Izzy Ashkenazy, also a real estate businessman. He is of Jewish descent.

Career

Ashkenazy bought his first property at the age of 18. He attended night classes at

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

, but did not graduate. In 1987, he founded Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation. In 2013, his company bought London's

Old Spitalfields Market Old Spitalfields Market is a covered Market (place), market in Spitalfields, London. There has been a market on the site for over 350 years. In 1991 it gave its name to New Spitalfields Market in Leyton, where fruit and vegetables are now trade ...

, but later sold it. In July 2017, the company bought London's

Grosvenor House Hotel ] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, formerly the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. Across from Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, the hotel is built on the former site of the 19th ...

for about $750 million. His company holds a long-term lease agreement with the City of Boston for Boston's

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall near the waterfront and Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches ...

Marketplace, leases Washington DC's

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

, and has a $70 million stake in New York's

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

. In November 2019, his company purchased the 83,923-square-foot Ferndale Shopping Center in

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village is 6,453 as of the W ...

for a price exceeding $35 million.

Personal life

He is married to Debra Ashkenazy, they have three children, and live on New York City's

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

. He hired rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

to perform at his daughter's

bat mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they a ...

in the

Rainbow Room The Rainbow Room is a private event space on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Run by Tishman Speyer, it is among the highest venues in New York City. The Rainbow Room was design ...

. Ashkenazy is a minority owner of

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...

club

Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club (), known for sponsorship reasons as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (), is a professional basketball club based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The team plays in the Ligat HaAl (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and inte ...

References

Living people 1960s births American billionaires American company founders People from Lawrence, Nassau County, New York American businesspeople in real estate 20th-century American Jews American people of Israeli descent 21st-century American Jews {{US-business-bio-1960s-stub