Michael Recanati (; 1957–2015) was an American businessman and philanthropist.

Early life

Michael Recanati was born in 1957. His father,

Raphael Recanati Raphael Recanati (; 1924–1999) was a Greek-born Israeli-American businessman, banker, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chairman of the Overseas Shipholding Group. He was the chairman of the Israel Discount Bank from 1982 to 1986. Earl ...

was an Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist. Recanati was educated at

Ramaz School The Ramaz School is an American coeducational Jewish Modern Orthodox day school which offers a dual curriculum of general studies taught in English and Judaic studies taught in Hebrew. The school is located on the Upper East Side of Manhatta ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 ...

Career

Recanati started his career at his family business, the

Overseas Shipholding Group Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) is the operator of a fleet of twenty-four oil tankers and oil tug-barges. In 2024, the company was acquired by Seattle-based transportation company Saltchuk. History Founded in 1948, Overseas Shipholding Group ...

, in 1978. He was forced to leave OSG in 1995 after a dispute about the company's investments in cruise ships. Recanati founded Orama, a

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm based in New York City and

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel, in 1999. It closed down in 2001. In 2008, Recanati founded Really Cool Foods, an

organic food Organic food, also known as ecological or biological food, refers to foods and beverages produced using methods that comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resou ...

company. It closed down in 2011. Recanati served as the chairman of 511 Equities.

Philanthropy

Recanati endowed the Dina and Raphael Recanati Professorship in Immunology at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

in honor of his parents in 1992. Dr

Jerome Groopman Jerome E. Groopman has been a staff writer in medicine and biology for ''The New Yorker'' since 1998. He is the Dina and Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Experimental Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medi ...

is the current chair. He also endowed the Recanati Family Professor of Science and professor of Microbiology and Medicine at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

In 2002, Recanati and his partner Ira Statfeld made a $5 million donation to the then Hampton Day School, taking control of the board of trustees and changing the name of the school to the Morriss Center in honor of Statfeld's father, however the school merged with the Ross School in 2006. In 2007, it was reported that Recanati and his partner had donated $30 million to the Child Study Center at

to establish an

Asperger's Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and non ...

Institute.

Personal life

Recanati and his partner Ira Statfeld had one son. They resided in Manhattan and East Hampton, New York. His partner at time of death was Tom Schalk.The IDC Herzliyan Winter 2016 Update
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Recanati, Michael 1957 births 2015 deaths American people of Greek-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Manhattan American company founders American LGBTQ businesspeople American gay men Gay businessmen Ramaz School alumni Recanati family 20th-century American businesspeople