David Nazarian is an American businessman, investor and philanthropist.

Early life

David Nazarian was born circa 1961 in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

.Q&A: David Nazarian on Giving Back to His Alma Mater
''

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

'', April 3, 2014 His father, Younes Nazarian, was a businessman and philanthropist. His mother, Soraya Nazarian, is a philanthropist. His paternal uncle, Izak Parviz Nazarian, was also a businessman and philanthropist. Nazarian immigrated to the United States with his parents during the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

of 1979. He graduated from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1982. He received a Master of Business Administration from the USC Marshall School of Business.

Career

Nazarian is the founder of Nîmes Capital, an investment firm, and serves as its chief executive officer. Nazarian and his family became early major shareholders of

Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...

when one of their investments joined forces with the communication company in 1988. He acquired real estate from the

Resolution Trust Corporation Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) was a U.S. government-owned asset management company first run by Lewis William Seidman and charged with liquidating assets, primarily real estate-related assets such as mortgage loans, that had been assets ...

in the first half of the 1990s. Additionally, he acquired hotels in the early 2000s and sold them for profit in 2008. He has also created venture funds that invested in wireless and broadband technology as well as clean energy. In 2012, Nîmes Capital acquired TD Food Group, a fast food company which owns and operates Pizza Hut and

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

restaurants in Hawaii,

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

and

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

, from Brentwood Associates. Nîmes sold the company to Restaurant Brands New Zealand in 2017 for a reported $105 million. In 2018, Nazarian acquired a portfolio of mid-sized operating companies and real estate holdings focused on multi-family, student housing and hotel assets. Nîmes Real Estate, a subsidiary of his Nazarian Enterprises, in 2021 had $1 billion in acquisitions.

Philanthropy

He serves on the board of governors of

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

. He serves as the chair of the investment committee and a member of the board of directors of the UCLA Foundation. He also serves on the board of leaders of the USC Marshall School of Business and the Harvard Graduate School Leadership Institute. With his wife, he endowed the David and Angella Nazarian Youth Leadership Program at Sinai Temple, a conservative synagogue in Westwood, for children from the 9th to the 12th grade. In 2014, they were also honored for their Jewish and pro-Israel philanthropy b
Hillel 818
the chapter of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life for students at

(CSUN), Pierce College and the Los Angeles Valley College. Additionally, they endowed the Angella and David Nazarian Social Innovators in Residence program at the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 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 ...

. In 2014, he made a charitable contribution of $10 million to his alma mater, CSUN. He also chairs a campaign to fundraise an additional $15 million. As a result, the CSUN David Nazarian College of Business and Economics was named in his honor. He was also a member of the leadership board of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation.

Personal life

He is married to Angella Maddahi, a former academic, non-fiction author, conference organizer and philanthropist. They have two sons.

Awards

Nazarian and his wife Angella were recipients of the 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which are awarded to “American citizens whom exemplify a life dedicated to community service. These are individuals who preserve and celebrate the history, traditions and values of their ancestry while exemplifying the values of the American way of life, and who are dedicated to creating a better world for us all.”

References

External links

Nimes CapitalCSUN David Nazarian College of Business and EconomicsVideo presentation about the CSUN David Nazarian College of Business and EconomicsThe David and Angella Nazarian Leadership Program at Sinai Temple
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazarian, David Living people American billionaires American chief executives American company founders American construction businesspeople American manufacturing businesspeople American people of Iranian-Jewish descent American transportation businesspeople American venture capitalists Businesspeople from Los Angeles California State University, Northridge alumni Conservative Jews Iranian emigrants to the United States Iranian Jews Marshall School of Business alumni

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

Businesspeople from Tehran Businesspeople from Beverly Hills, California Philanthropists from California Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United States 1961 births