S. Daniel Abraham (born August 15, 1924) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Thompson Medical, whose main product is SlimFast, a diet program. He has endowed the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and he supports Jewish causes in Florida and Israel. As of October 2018, he had a net worth of $2.1

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

Early life

Abraham was born on August 15, 1924, the son of Stella K. and Dr. Samuel Abraham. He was raised in an Orthodox

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

home in Long Beach, New York. His father was a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and follower of

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky (born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky; 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940) was a Russian-born author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in O ...

; and Abraham as a teen printed his own newsletter warning Americans about the danger from the Nazis. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Abraham served in the United States Army in Europe. In 1970, he moved to Israel with his wife and children where he lived through the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

and returned to the United States in 1978.

Career

Abraham founded Thompson Medical, which introduced the SlimFast line of diet products in the late 1970s. Abraham made Thompson Medical private in 1988;

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

acquired Slim-Fast for $2.3 billion in 2000. As of October 2016, he had an estimated wealth of US$2.1 billion. Abraham is the author of the book '' Peace Is Possible'', with a foreword by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. Abraham also published his memoirs in 2010, entitled ''Everything is Possible: Life and Business Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire and the Founder of Slim Fast''.

Philanthropy

Abraham founded the Center for Middle East Peace in Washington, D.C. Through personal friendship with leaders in the United States, Israel, and throughout the Middle East, he has worked over the past two decades to help bring an end to the Arab/Israeli conflict. He is a major sponsor of the Washington-based

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...

. Abraham endowed an S. Daniel Abraham Chair in Middle East Policy Studies at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and a Chair in Nutritional Medicine at

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 ...

. He has endowed the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and th
S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies
at Tel Aviv University. He funded the Dan Abraham School for Business Administration and Economics at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

in Israel, and the S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

, and Honors Program at Stern College for Women. He holds honorary doctorates from the

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

and

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

. He is also the founder of the New Synagogue of Palm Beach. His gift to the Mayo Clinic served to create the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center, whose opening in 2007 received national media coverage. The Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls was dedicated in honor of his mother. He is a founding member of the New Synagogue of Palm Beach.

Political contributions

Abraham is a long-time donor to the Democratic Party and the

Clinton Foundation The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

. He gave $1.5 million to the party and ranked as the number one contributor of soft money to the national parties in 2000. Abraham donated $3 million to Priorities USA Action, a super PAC which supported

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's 2016 presidential campaign. In 2020 he donated $5 million to Democratic aligned Super PACs, including American Bridge 21st Century, House Majority PAC, and Senate Majority PAC.

Personal life

Abraham is divorced from his first wife, Estanne Weiner; they have four daughters: Rebecca, Simmi, Leah, and Tammy. He resides in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

. Abraham is currently married to Ewa Sebzda, with whom he has two children, Sarah and Sam.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, S. Daniel 1924 births 21st-century American Jews Living people People from Long Beach, New York Businesspeople from Palm Beach, Florida American billionaires American health care businesspeople American Orthodox Jews American philanthropists Businesspeople from New York (state) Military personnel from New York (state) New York (state) Democrats Philanthropists from New York (state) United States Army personnel of World War II