Rebecka Belldegrun (born 1950), is a Finnish-born Israeli-American

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

, billionaire businesswoman and investor.

Early life and education

Belldegrun was born in Helsinki, Finland to Pola and

Shlomo Zabludowicz Shlomo Zabludowicz ( he, שלמה זבלודוביץ'; 1914–1994) was a Polish-born Israeli businessman. He gained wealth through the armament trade between the Finnish weapons manufacturer Tampella and Israel. Biography Shlomo Zabludowicz wa ...

. Her younger brother is Poju Zabludowicz. She received her medical degree from the

Sackler School of Medicine Sackler Faculty of Medicine is a medical school affiliated with Tel Aviv University, located in Tel Aviv, Israel. History The Sackler School of Medicine was named for Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler, and was founded and named prior to the ...

at Tel Aviv University, and later completed her Ophthalmic Surgery residency in Israel, and her fellowship in corneal surgery at Harvard Medical School."LACMA Announces The Appointment Of Two New Trustees"
''American Towns''. 7 April 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2013.

Career

In 1986, Belldegrun founded Intertech Corporation, a New York-based real estate company specializing in real estate development, investments, and acquisitions. She expanded Intertech's businesses and holdings to include interests in high-tech, biotechnology, hotel management and industrial manufacturing in the United States, England, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Israel. She served as the president of the company until 2003."Rebecka Belldegrun M.D."
''Businessweek''. Retrieved on 25 June 2013. Belldegrun is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and president o
Bellco Capital
a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm which she founded in 2003. Bellco Capital focuses on finding seed investments and experienced management to early-stage and start-up companies, as well as on leveraged acquisitions of, and growth equity investments in leading middle-market enterprises. The company's business transactions include international private equity investments in retail, high-tech, biotechnology and real estate.

Board memberships

Belldegrun is a member of a number of boards, including: * BabyFirstTV – director * Brentwood School – chairman emeritus of the board of trustees * California Institute of Technology – trustee * LACMA – trustee *''Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response'' at the University of Pennsylvania – member of the external advisory board *LSM at the University of Pennsylvania – member of the advisory board * Kronos Bio – director * Breakthrough Properties – director In the past, Belldegrun was a member of the following boards: * Columbia University – member of the board of visitors * Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya – member of the board of trustees *

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

– member of the board of advisors * USC Center on Public Diplomacy – member of the advisory board

Personal life

Belldegrun is married to Arie Belldegrun and together they have four children. They reside in Bel Air, an affluent neighborhood in Los Angeles. In 2021, in its annual ranking of the wealthiest people in Israel, ''Forbes Israel'' ranked Rebecka and Arie Belldegrun 36th with a personal net worth of $1.75 billion. They have donated over $1 million to the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences, and have donated a $5 million sculpture to LACMA."Tony Smith's monumental sculpture 'Smoke' will not disappear from LACMA; multimillion-dollar purchase finalized"
''Los Angeles Times''. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2016.

References

External links

''Rebecka Belldegrun on Businessweek''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belldegrun, Rebecka 1950 births Living people American billionaires American health care businesspeople American investors American ophthalmologists American people of Finnish-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American real estate businesspeople American venture capitalists American women chief executives Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Columbia University people Finnish emigrants to the United States Finnish people of Polish-Jewish descent Reichman University Jewish physicians People from Bel Air, Los Angeles Businesspeople from Helsinki Physicians from California RAND Corporation people Tel Aviv University alumni University of Pennsylvania people University of Southern California people Women ophthalmologists 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians 21st-century Israeli Jews American women investors 21st-century American Jews Jewish women in business Finnish Jews