Robert D. Ziff (born 1967) is an American

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 ...

, and the middle son of publishing magnate William Bernard Ziff Jr. and grandson of

William Bernard Ziff Sr. William Bernard Ziff Sr. (August 1, 1898 – December 20, 1953) was an American publishing executive and author. Early life By 1916, Ziff was working as an artist. He would later go on to serve as an aviator in World War I. Ziff Davis Inc. ...

He and his two brothers inherited the family fortune in 1994.

Early life and education

Robert was born in 1967. His mother was Barbara Ingrid Beitz, an ethnic

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

whose parents were declared as "

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

" for providing refuge and risking their lives to save Jews during World War II. His father was the

Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

media magnate William Ziff Jr. (d. 2006), who had built the Ziff-Davis magazine empire founded by William Bernard Ziff Sr. that included titles such as

Popular Aviation Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related service ...

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Mag ...

, and

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...

.New York Times: "For Ziffs, Sale Is a Family Affair" by Geraldine Fabrikant
June 11, 1994 Ziff studied undergraduate electrical and computer engineering at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, graduating magna cum laude. In 1992, he graduated first in his class from

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private university, private, Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, Cornell Law School offers four degree programs (Juris Doctor, JD, Maste ...

and was editor of the Cornell Law Review.Cornell Law School news: "Kevin Clermont named First Robert D. Ziff Professor of Law"
retrieved May 30, 2012 After law school, Ziff clerked for Chief Judge Monroe G. McKay of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and later was vice president of strategic planning at Ziff Communications Company.

Career

Robert and his brothers

Dirk A dirk is a long-bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.); "Dagger", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729. Historically, it gained its name from the Highland dirk (Scott ...

and

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

inherited the family fortune in 1994 after their father sold 95% of the business to

Forstmann Little Forstmann, Little & Company was an American private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). At its peak in the late 1990s, Forstmann Little was among the largest private equity firms globally. Ultimately, the firm would suffer fro ...

for $1.4 billion and retired. The father had originally wanted to pass the company on to his sons but they were not interested. Instead, they formed New York City-based Ziff Brothers Investments, investing their inheritances broadly across equities, debt, real estate, commodities, private equity and hedge funds. They also provided seed money to fund manager

Daniel Och Daniel Och (born 27 January 1961) is an American billionaire Hedge fund, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman and former CEO of Och-Ziff Capital Management, a global hedge fund and alternative asset management ...

in exchange for a 10% stake in

Och-Ziff Capital Management Sculptor Capital Management (formerly ''Och-Ziff Capital Management Group'') is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world. The company oper ...

which went public in 2007.Forbes Magazine "Forbes 400 Richest Americans: Robert Ziff"
March 2014 The brothers dissolved Ziff Brothers Investments in 2014 and now invest independently.

Personal life

Robert is married to fellow

graduate and attorney Michelle Angelic Locher. He is on the board of trustees at The Browning School and The IDEAL School of Manhattan. His wife donated $40,000 to the campaign of Montana governor Steve Bullock, Democrat (second only to David Gray, a partner and chief legal officer at Ziff Brothers Investments who gave $45,000).

Philanthropy and political contributions

In 2008, he established the Robert D. Ziff Professorship of Law at

.Cornell Law School: Robert D. Ziff Professorship of Law
retrieved May 30, 2012 He also made headlines in 2011 for his financial contributions to Republican legislators supportive of gay marriage. In 2017, he endowed the Robert B. Kent Public Interest Fund at

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

in honor of his law school professor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziff, Robert D. American billionaires American people of German descent American people of Jewish descent Living people 1967 births Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Cornell Law School alumni Robert D. American philanthropists