Steven Charles Witkoff (born March 15, 1957) is an American real estate investor and landlord based in New York City, and founder of the Witkoff Group.

Early life and education

Witkoff was born to a Jewish family in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

and raised in Baldwin Harbor, New York and

Old Westbury, New York Old Westbury is a village in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury ...

, the son of Martin and Lois Witkoff. His father was a manufacturer of ladies' coats in New York City. He earned a J.D. from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of N ...

. After school he worked for the real estate law firm Dreyer & Traub, where one of his clients was

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

Career

In 1985, he partnered with fellow Dreyer & Traub attorney

Laurence Gluck Laurence Gluck (born 1953) is an American New York-based real estate investor, landlord, and the founder of the real estate company Stellar Management. Early life and education Gluck was born to a Jewish family, raised in a two bedroom, one bath ...

and founded Stellar Management (the name Stellar is derived from Steve and Larry) and purchased cheap buildings in

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the uppermost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defe ...

. He accumulated a small portfolio of buildings and in 1995, he expanded into lower Manhattan, buying several cheap office buildings. In 1996, he was able to secure financing from

Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) is the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York. The company was created by the merger of First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse Group in 198 ...

for the purchase of 33 Maiden Lane, a 27-story tower designed by

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the p ...

. A close relationship with Credit Suisse First Boston soon developed and Witkoff was able to purchase additional properties - typically using very little of his own money - including the landmark News Building. In 1998, he and partner Rubin Schron purchased the

Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...

for $137.5 million and he expanded his portfolio to include real estate purchases in Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia. In 1998, the planned IPO of his company was cancelled due to the collapse of the real estate market and Witkoff and Gluck dissolved their partnership with Gluck taking the residential properties and Witkoff the office buildings. Witkoff founded the Witkoff Group and expanded into residential construction and rehab. As of 2013, Witkoff owns about 30 properties in the United States and London. In November 2013, the Witkoff Group announced their purchase of the Helmsley

Park Lane Hotel (New York) The Park Lane Hotel is a New York City luxury hotel at 36 Central Park South, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown Manhattan, overlooking Central Park. Constructed in 1971, the hotel was designed by the prolific architecture firm, Emery ...

. In August 2017, Witkoff purchased the unfinished

Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas The Fontainebleau Las Vegas (formerly The Drew Las Vegas) is a hotel and casino currently under construction on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is on the site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Algiers H ...

in Las Vegas. In February 2018, Witkoff announced the former Fontainebleau will be developed and open in 2020 as The Drew Las Vegas, named after Witkoff's son, Andrew (nicknamed "Drew"), who died of a drug overdose in 2011. The Drew Las Vegas will open in partnership with Marriott International Inc., and will be the first JW Marriott on the Las Vegas Strip. In April 2019, Witkoff announced that the Drew's opening will be pushed back to the second quarter of 2022 to allow more certainty about his construction project. The property was previously scheduled to open in late 2020.

Personal life

Witkoff lives on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

in Manhattan. In 1987, he married Lauren Rappoport. They have three sons. In 2011, their son Andrew died of an

OxyContin Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...

overdose at the now-closed Sunset Plaza Drive sober living facility in California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witkoff, Steve 1957 births American real estate businesspeople 20th-century American Jews Businesspeople from New York City People from the Bronx Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Living people People from Hempstead (town), New York People from Old Westbury, New York People from the Upper East Side American landlords 21st-century American Jews