Christopher Michael Jeffries is an American real estate developer, lawyer, and philanthropist who co-founded the national real estate firm Millennium Partners, known for the development of the Millennium Towers in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

as well as the redevelopment of

Hotel St. Moritz The Hotel St. Moritz was a luxury hotel located at 50 Central Park South, on the east side of Sixth Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The structure was extensively rebuilt from 1999 to 2002, and today it is a hotel/condominium combin ...

Education

Jeffries graduated from

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

in 1972 and

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MC ...

in 1974.

Career

After receiving his J.D. degree, Jeffries began his career as a lawyer in the

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its southern border with Detroit. The city was originall ...

, law firm of Keywell & Rosenfeld. He then served as a principal in the leveraged buyout of Key International Inc., a metal recycling and automotive equipment manufacturing business.

General Atlantic

Jeffries met Philip Aarons, who was chairing the New York City Public Development Corporation at that time and the two worked on housing developments in Staten Island. The two joined

General Atlantic General Atlantic (also known as "GA") is an American growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York, United States. The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for ...

and ran its real estate division. Throughout the 1980s, he and Aarons constructed subsidized low-income housing in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

. In April 1990, the American Broadcasting Company decided to sell two full blocks on the East Side of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

between Sixty-Eighth and Sixty-Ninth Streets. However, it was also a time of recession and it was difficult to get financing for almost any construction. A syndicate led by William Zeckendorf Jr. and Martin J. Raynes fell apart because they were unable to secure funding, and the latter was driven to bankruptcy in 1991 after the real estate downturn. Jeffries then stepped in to take over the project, but his superiors at

thought the deal was infeasible. As a result, Jeffries and Aarons departed

and were given the right to proceed with their transaction from the company. Jeffries and Aarons, joined by Philip Lovett, started their own real estate firm, Millennium Partners, in 1990.

Millennium Partners

Millennium won the backing of Goldman Sachs and

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the Disney General Entertainment Content#Current assets, ...

offered them a $13 million reduction in the $105 million purchase price for the land. Eager to keep the deal alive, Jeffries came up with $1 million of his own money to secure the agreement. However, further challenges lies ahead in securing the remaining $81 million in a credit-scarce market. Jeffries came up with a novel way of financing the project by developing a mixed-used, urban entertainment, retail, office, and residential complex and pre-selling different segment of the building to various owners, both individuals and corporations. The use of the building would also be differentiated by having two separate entrances for commercial and residential uses. By 1991, he secured financial commitments from

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

(whose space later was sold to Loews Theater),

LA Fitness LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California. History LA Fitness was founde ...

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

, as well as J.P. Morgan & Co. as future tenants of Millennium Tower. Their initial success has allowed them to develop two other buildings in

Lincoln Square, Manhattan Lincoln Square is the name of both a square and the surrounding neighborhood within the Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Lincoln Square is centered on the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Avenue, between We ...

, One Lincoln Square and the Grand Millennium. The announcement of Millennium Tower brought controversies over its density, height, and design, that

Brendan Gill Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) was an American journalist. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' for more than 60 years. Gill also contributed film criticism for '' Film Comment'', wrote about design and architecture for Architect ...

described the 'immense structure' as 'grossly over-scaled' and objected to the 'exceptionally busy' mix of uses. Those protests later helped set new zoning laws in the district. The Millennium Tower was, nevertheless, a commercial success that attracted celebrity tenants such as

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

, and

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

, earned over a quarter billion dollars and inspired other real estate developers to follow suit. According to Michael Gross, author of '' House of Outrageous Fortune'', the children of real estate developer

William Zeckendorf William Zeckendorf Sr. (June 30, 1905 – September 30, 1976) was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp — for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 — he developed ...

later used Jeffries' pioneering formula in developing 15 Central Park West as their family was investors in the Millennium Tower as well. Jeffries later partnered with

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in add ...

and

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is an international luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide. ...

to replicate similar real estate projects that combine condominiums and hotels in mixed-used complexes in other cities, totaling $2 billion in investment. Among the cities is

, where he developed the Millennium Tower, controversial for its sinking foundations and tilting problems, and Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco. In addition to the under construction Winthrop Center, he has helped develop Millennium Tower,

Millennium Place Millennium Place is a luxury residential building located in Boston, Massachusetts. The building completes Boston's Avery Street corridor development, which includes the Ritz Carlton Hotel & Residences, Equinox Fitness Club, and the AMC Loews B ...

, and owned the historic

Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in add ...

Hotel in

. In Miami, he spearheaded the development of the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, which was the tallest building in the city from 2003 to 2017. In Washington, DC, he helped the development of

The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. The Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C. is a luxury hotel located at 1150 22nd Street NW in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Managed by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, the hotel has 300 guest rooms, including 267 ...

as well as The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown. Through Millenium Partners, he owns the

, which he developed into The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, as well as condominiums and led to a turnaround of its status, attracting prominent tenants such as

Jean-Marie Messier Jean-Marie Messier (born 13 December 1956) is a French businessman who was chairman and chief executive of the multinational media conglomerate Vivendi (formerly Vivendi Universal) until 2002. He is also frequently referred to by the nickname "J2 ...

Sidney Kimmel Sidney J. Kimmel (born January 16, 1928) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and film producer. He is ranked number 2141 in the ''Forbes'' list of the richest people alive in 2021.Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

, and Mitchell Rales. Jeffries' condo in the building, purchased in 2002, was the highest-priced in the New York real estate market when it was sold in 2012.

Philanthropy

In 2018, Jeffries and his wife, Lisa, committed $33 million to the

, which is the largest donation the school has received. His total contribution to

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

is $40 million, including $5 million for a new campus building renamed Jeffries Hall in his honor, and $2.5 million for the law school's 1L Summer Funding Program. In March 2020, he donated $25 million to the Henry Ford Health System in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, which is the largest single donation in the system's 105-year history. The money will be used to help advance cancer research and treatment.

Personal life

Outside his business career, he is most known for being the former husband of Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, the daughter of actress

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

and Prince Aly Khan, son of

Aga Khan III Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), commonly known by his religious title Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imam of the Nizariyya. He played an important role in British Indian politics. Born to Aga Khan II in Karachi, Aga Khan II ...

. The couple had been active in organizations promoting research in Alzheimer's disease. They married in 1989 and their reception attracted a high-profile crowd include UN Secretary General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra (; ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as Prime Min ...

, Senators

Chris Dodd Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history. ...

and

Larry Pressler Larry Lee Pressler (born March 29, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from South Dakota who served in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1979) and United States Senate (1979–1997) as a Republican. He remained active in ...

, author Jerzy Kosiński, songwriter

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...

, and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

. The couple divorced in 1993, citing abandonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffries, Christopher M. Columbia College (New York) alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni American real estate businesspeople Private equity and venture capital investors American philanthropists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)