Benzion Shalom Eliezer Freshwater (born 1948) is a British billionaire property investor of

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in opp ...

Jewish descent.

Early life

Benzion Shalom Eliezer Freshwater is the son of

Osias Freshwater Osias is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: *Osias Beert (1580–1623/24), Flemish painter *Osias Godin (1911–1988), Canadian politician *Camilo Osías (1889–1976), Filipino politician See also

*Osia Lewis ...

(1897–1976), born in the village of Sassov,

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, Poland, who emigrated to England in 1939. His wife and three children were murdered in the Holocaust. In 1947 he married Nechama Golda Stempel ''née'' Halberstam, widowed daughter of Rabbi

Ben Zion Halberstam Ben Zion Halberstam (1874–1941) was the second Bobover Rebbe. He was murdered by the Nazis in 1941. Biography Halberstam was born in Bikofsk in 1874. His father was Shlomo Halberstam (1847–1905), the first Rebbe of Bobov, and a scion of ...

, the second Bobover

Rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...

, and they had two sons, Benzion and Solomon. Osias built up

Daejan Holdings Daejan Holdings is a British-based property business, part of the Freshwater Group of companies. It has its headquarters at Freshwater House, Shaftesbury Avenue. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as DJAN until it was acquired by the Fre ...

into one of London's largest private landlords and his sons, Benzion and Rabbi Shlomo are now Executive Directors.

Career

He has 279 directorships but operates mainly through Daejan Holdings plc, a company quoted on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

, in which his family has a 79% stake. Daejan's UK portfolio is managed by Highdorn, part of the Freshwater Group of Companies. In the ''

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday n ...

'' his fortune has risen from £1 billion in 2009 to £1.6 billion in 2016. According to the 2020 edition his net worth was estimated at £2.054 billion. He is a trustee of Mayfair Charities Limited, a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

which disbursed £8,553,000 in 2007-8 to "organisations and institutions engaged in the provision of education and promotion of religious observance within the tenets of orthodox Judaism and for the relief of poverty."

References

External links

Daejan Holdings plc website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freshwater, Benzion 1948 births Living people British real estate businesspeople British Orthodox Jews Jewish British philanthropists People from Golders Green British billionaires British people of Polish-Jewish descent