Leon Recanati (; born May 10, 1948) is an Israeli businessman and philanthropist.

Biography

Leon Recanati is the son of Mathilda and Daniel Recanati.
retrieved May 12, 2013 His father served as CEO of the

Israel Discount Bank Israel Discount Bank, Ltd. () is an Israeli banking institution that offers a range of financial services, including retail banking, commercial banking, private banking, and financial services. The bank, headquartered in Tel Aviv, operates 112 ...

and along with his brothers, established the IDB Holding Corporation. After completing his military service, Recanati earned a B.A. in economics and an M.B.A. at

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

in Jerusalem. Leon Recanati is married to artist Mira Recanati. They have two children, Daniel and Dafna who is married to American philanthropist and investor

Thomas Kaplan Thomas Scott Kaplan (born September 14, 1962) is a Franco-American businessman, philanthropist and art collector. He is the world's largest private collector of Rembrandt's works. Kaplan is the chairman and chief investment officer of The El ...

. Recanati has a younger daughter May from a past relationship with Shula Recanati.

Business career

In 1971, he worked for the Israel Discount Bank – which was founded by his grandfather,

Leon Yehuda Recanati Leon Yehuda Recanati (; 1890–1945) was a Greece, Greek-born businessman and Jewish community leader who became a prominent banker and philanthropist in Mandatory Palestine. Biography Leon Yehuda Recanati was born in 1890 in Thessaloniki. He was ...

. In 1979, he was appointed deputy CEO with responsibility for all branches and marketing. He largely escaped the scandal of the

1983 Israel bank stock crisis The bank stock crisis was a financial crisis that occurred in Israel in 1983, during which the stocks of the four largest banks in Israel collapsed. In previous episodes of share price weakness, the banks bought back their own stocks, creating t ...

. In 1986, he transferred to IDB Holding, the investment side of the family business where he rotated through various chairmanships at Supersol,

Delek Delek Group () is an Israeli holding conglomerate mainly operating in the petroleum industry. Delek Group's largest subsidiary is Delek – The Israel Fuel Corporation, one of the largest chains of filling stations in Israel. Delek Group also ...

and Clal, and later served as co-CEO and co-chairman of IDB Holding. In May 2003, the family sold IDB Holding to

Nochi Dankner Nochi Dankner (; born 13 November 1954) is an Israeli businessman and a board member of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He was the controlling shareholder of the IDB Group. Dankner is also the founder and chairman of the Ganden Group - which led ...

Haaretz: "The losses of Leon Recanati - He had it all: money, prestige - but the scion of the banking family wanted more" By Nathan Lipson
December 10, 2008 and divided its assets. With his share, Recanati established Glenrock, an investment company, which he ran with his wife Shula Recanati and Ziv Kop. It has three divisions: ''GlenRock America'' assists Israeli businesses in entering the American market and also serves as a conduit for American investors to invest in Israel (headed by Larry Graev); ''GlenRock Israel'' invests in local technology companies; and ''GlenRock Italy'' advises Israeli businesses in penetrating the Italian market and serves as a bridge for Italian investors interested in investing in Israel (headed by Rony Benatof). In 2007, he purchased a 50.4% stake (73% total with two minority partners) in the Gmul Investment Company for NIS 600 million more than twice its market capitalization. Gmul had stakes in real estate, hotels, investments, and automotive. It was founded in 1950 by Bank Hapoalim, the Histadrut labor federation and several pension funds then sold to the brothers Jules and Eddy Trump, who listed it on the

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ), colloquially known as The Bursa, is the only public stock exchange in Israel and a public company itself, listed on its own exchange since August 1, 2019. It is regulated by the ''Securities Law (1968)'' a ...

, and then sold in October 2003 to Eyal Yona and Amnon Barzilay. Performance at Gmul deteriorated. Recanati stated: "At this point I can say that buying control of Gmul was the worst deal I have ever made... I cannot invest any more in Gmul, but I hope that we can all work together to find a solution and reach a fair, mutually agreed-upon arrangement." In October 2011, he sold half of his 50.4% investment in Gmul to Itzhak Gvilli for NIS 20 million. He resigned as chairman of Gmul in July 2012.

Philanthropy

Recanati serves as vice chairman of the Israel Cancer Association. He has served as chairman of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

's Development Committee and he also is involved with the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

and the

Tel Aviv Museum The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...

. Recanati established the Tapuah program in Israel which established 48 centers in disadvantaged areas and Bedouin, Druze and Arab villages where basic computer and internet training is provided. In addition, he named the Salonika and Greece Jewry Heritage Center in memory of his grandfather,

.Salonika and Greece Jewry Heritage Center http://www.salonikaheritage.com/html5/?_id=14363&did=9267&title=en,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Recanati, Leon Living people Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Israeli businesspeople Israeli people of Greek-Jewish descent Israeli philanthropists 1948 births Recanati family Jerusalem School of Business Administration alumni