Daniel Och (born 27 January 1961) is an 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 ...

hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman and former CEO of Och-Ziff Capital Management, a global hedge fund and alternative asset management firm. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' he has a

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

of US$3.6 billion, as of August 2021.

Early life and education

Och is Jewish, the son of Golda and Dr. Michael Och.New Jersey Jewish News: "Schechter school mourns founder Golda Och, 74"
January 13, 2010 Och grew up in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

and attended the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union (since renamed Golda Och Academy, in honor of his mother) in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

, a Jewish day school founded by his parents. In December 2010, Och donated $15 million to the school, effectively doubling its endowment. Och has a bachelor's degree in economics with a concentration in finance from the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Investment career

In 1982, Och began his career at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

in the Risk Arbitrage Department. He was later the head of

proprietary trading Proprietary trading (also known as prop trading) occurs when a trader trades stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, their derivatives, or other financial instruments with the firm's own money (instead of using customer funds) to make a profit ...

in the Equities Division and co-head of U.S. Equities Trading. He worked at Goldman Sachs for 11 years. In 1994, Och founded Och-Ziff Capital Management Group with $100 million initial investment from the brothers Dirk Edward Ziff, Daniel M. Ziff, and Robert D. Ziff, heirs to publishing magnate William Bernard Ziff, Jr. Och-Ziff completed an initial public offering in 2007, listing its shares on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

initially at a price of $32.00. The company's stock has declined significantly since the IPO, reaching its all-time low of 3.29 on July 22, 2016. In February 2014, Forbes listed Daniel Och as one of the 25 Highest-Earning hedge fund managers in 2013. His 2013 total earnings of $400 million ranks him the 17th among the 25 top earning hedge fund managers. On May 8, 2015, Och was targeted by the "Hedge Clippers" activist group, who protested outside of his residence at 15 Central Park West, New York City. In September 2016, the U.S. government fined Och $2.2 million and the Och-Ziff fund $413 million for paying over $100 million in bribes to various African government officials. In February 2018, Och was replaced as CEO of Och-Ziff by Robert Shafir. Och remains chairman until March 2019. This change in leadership occurred following the 2016 bribery scandal and caused turmoil as Och had formerly indicated James Levin would be his successor before retracting that statement. Dan Och now invests out of his single-family office, Willoughby Capital, and his new $750M SPAC, AJAX Holdings.

Donations

Philanthropy

Och sits on the board of Endeavor. He is the vice chair of Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization fighting poverty in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He has sat on the board of trustees of

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospit ...

since 2005. In October 2017, the Spine Hospital of the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital was named after Och and his wife following a $25 million donation. In 2014, the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

established The Och Initiative for Women in Finance named after the Och family. In May 2022, The Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation announced a $50 million gift to the New York-Presbyterian. The donation is to expand the Och Spine program across the New York area by increasing access to spinal care by establishing additional Och Spine facilities, while focusing additional resources on non-operative services and care.

Political contributions

In 2008, Och donated $28,500 to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Personal life

Och is married to Jane Och with whom he has three children. Och's personal interests include philanthropy, skiing, and history.

References

External links

"Strong character: Face to face with Daniel S. Och," (Pensions & Investments)Website
for the NewYork-Presbyterian ''Och Spine Hospital'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Och, Daniel 1961 births Living people American billionaires American chief executives of financial services companies American financial analysts American financial company founders American financial traders American financiers American hedge fund managers American investors Businesspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Golda Och Academy alumni Goldman Sachs people American philanthropists People from South Orange, New Jersey Private equity and venture capital investors Wharton School alumni 21st-century American Jews Stock and commodity market managers