Ezra Nahmad (born 1945) is a Monegasque

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 ...

art dealer and collector of Syrian descent. He lives in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, Monaco. Ezra, along with his brother

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 ...

have built an art collection worth $7 to 8 billion.

Biography

Ezra was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon to a Sephardic Jewish family. The roots of the Nahmad family are in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, Syria, where his father, banker Hillel Nahmad lived until just after World War II. Following the Syrian

anti-Jewish Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

violence in 1949, his father moved to Beirut, where Ezra and his brothers sold English novels to US sailors stationed there. In the early 1960s, With the rise of Israeli threat against the

Lebanese Republic Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, Ezra's father took him and his brothers, Joseph (Giuseppe) and

, to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. As teenagers, the three began to deal in art, and skipped school to trade on the Italian stock market. Ezra's first career milestone is believed to have taken place at a

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic g ...

exhibition in Rome, organized by cubist dealer

Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (25 June 1884 – 11 January 1979) was a German-born art collector, and one of the most notable French art dealers of the 20th century. He became prominent as an art gallery owner in Paris beginning in 1907 and was among ...

. Ezra and his brother bought two works – the only pieces sold. Kahnweiler befriended them, selling them works by

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...

, and Gris. With the emergence of the

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...

terror group in the 1970s, Milan was perceived as too dangerous, and the family moved again. Ezra and his brother Joseph headed for Monaco, and David to New York City.

Art collection

As of 2013, Ezra and his brother David are considered influential "mega-dealers" of modern and impressionist art by the most well-known names, from

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

and

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that ...

and

Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of colo ...

. They own an inventory of between 4,000 and 4,500 works, stored in the duty-free

Geneva Freeport Geneva Freeport () is a warehouse complex in Geneva, Switzerland, for the storage of art and other valuables and collectibles. It is the world's oldest and largest freeport facility, and the one with the most artworks, with 40% of its collection ...

warehouse next to the airport in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland. The brothers buy and sell most of their works at auction. In 2007, ''

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 ...

'' estimated that Ezra, together with his brother

have built an art collection worth $7 to 8 billion. A 2015 billionaires' index places Ezra and his brother David the richest residents of Monaco. In the 2016

Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...

leak scandal, Ezra Nahmad's name was associated to his family's web of offshore companies and schemes to evade taxes and manipulate the art market.

Personal life

Nahmad is married to Marie Nahmad, resides in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and has four children. His son Helly Nahmad is a London-based art dealer. His daughter Michaela Nahmad is married to investor Nathaniel Meyohas. His cousin is the Brazilian banker

Edmond Safra Edmond Jacob Safra (; 6 August 1932 – 3 December 1999) was a Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire banker and philanthropist of Syrian descent. He continued his family tradition of banking in Brazil and Switzerland, and was married to Lily Watkins ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahmad, Ezra 1945 births Living people Jewish art collectors Lebanese art dealers Lebanese expatriates in Italy Lebanese expatriates in Monaco Lebanese Jews Lebanese people of Syrian-Jewish descent Lebanese people of Syrian descent Syrian billionaires Monegasque Jews

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

Businesspeople from Beirut Monegasque people of Lebanese-Jewish descent Monegasque people of Syrian-Jewish descent Monegasque billionaires Lebanese emigrants to Monaco Safra family