Michael Ilan Yoel "Mikey" Federmann ( he, מיקי פדרמן; born 9 September 1943) is an Israeli businessman and billionaire, in charge of

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world. The company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land ...

and the

Dan Hotels Dan Hotels is a chain of Israeli luxury hotels established in 1947. The chain owns 18 hotels with 3,669 rooms, a convention center and a hotel training center, as well as a 226-room hotel in Bangalore, India. History In June 1947, Yekutiel an ...

group. Under his leadership Elbit Systems multiplied its size many times and became a major player in the

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

market globally as well as in other areas of military defence technology.

Early life and education

Federmann was born in Haifa to Bella and Yekutiel "Ksil" Federmann, brother of Irit Federmann-Landau. He received a bachelor's degree in economics and state studies and then a master's degree in business administration from the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

. He served in the Israel Defense Forces' elite unit

Sayeret Matkal General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal ( he, סיירת מטכ״ל) is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is the prime special ...

where he was a member of

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Ja ...

's unit.

Business

Since 2002, Federmann has been the owner of Israeli conglomerate Federmann Enterprises Ltd which was started by his late father and uncle. His cousin Ami Federmann also holds a stake. Federmann chairs the boards of its two biggest publicly traded holdings: defense electronics maker

and luxury hotel operator Dan Hotels Corp.

Elbit

Federmann joined Elbit when his El-Op company merged with it in 1998. That doubled it in size. Elbit was naturally going to benefit from the global growth of the UAV market however, the 700% growth of Elbit over the following decade was also largely due to Federmann and CEO David Ackerman's leadership of Elbit Systems. They embarked on an ambitious global buyout strategy for the sake of growth. The strategy has made Elbit into a multibillion-dollar multinational.

Dan Hotels Dan Hotels is a chain of Israeli luxury hotels established in 1947. The chain owns 18 hotels with 3,669 rooms, a convention center and a hotel training center, as well as a 226-room hotel in Bangalore, India. History In June 1947, Yekutiel an ...

Under the aegis of Federmann the hotel group has continued to grow, thanks to growing tourism and business in the country as well as ongoing expansion of the chain. Dan Hotels began as a boarding house on the Tel Aviv seafront that was purchased by his father and uncle in 1947. Over the following decades it grew to be a national chain. It has expanded its horizon to India. Their first hotel in India is in the Silicon City, Bengaluru. The Den Bengaluru is located in Whitefield. Part of the chain is the iconic King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which since its founding in 1932 until this day hosts heads of state and diplomats on behalf of the Israeli government on their visits to Israel.

Wealth

He was ranked 7th wealthiest in the

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

newspaper's top 100 in Israel in 2010 with an estimated wealth of 6.5 billion

Shekel Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

(approximately $1.4 billion). In that year he was ranked No. 721 in ''Forbes

List of billionaires ''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...

. In 2011 he was ranked No. 879 and in 2012 he dropped off the ranking of the top 1000. As of November 2020, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' estimates Federmann's net worth to be $2.1 billion.

Honours

* In 1996 the Hebrew University of Jerusalem awarded him an honorary doctorate. * In 2005 he received the Israeli industry prize for electronics. * In June 2014 he received an honorary CBE in Queen Elisabeth II's Birthday Honours list 2014 - For services to UK/Israel business cooperation and UK prosperity.

Senior positions

* Chairman of the Board of

. * Chairman of the Board of

. * Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. * Board member of the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli univ ...

Personal life

Federmann and his wife Leora have 3 children, David, Gidi, and Daniel who is married to Sharona Pick, daughter of

Svika Pick Svika Pick (, 3 October 1949 – 14 August 2022), born Henryk Pick, was an Israeli pop singer, songwriter, composer, and television personality. Pick first gained traction on a national level after playing a lead part in an Israeli version of t ...

and sister-in-law of

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensemb ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federmann, Michael 1943 births Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Israeli Jews Living people Israeli billionaires Israeli chief executives Jews in Mandatory Palestine Naturalized citizens of Israel Members of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony Israeli soldiers Jewish military personnel People from Haifa Jerusalem School of Business Administration alumni