Zalman Chaim Bernstein (; 1926–1999), originally known in his businesses as Sanford Bernstein, was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.Zalman Bernstein, Wall Street giant, dies
'' J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', February 5, 1999The Shalem Center biography
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Biography

Zalman Bernstein was born to a

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 ...

family in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1926. At the age of eighteen, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and fought in the

Second World War 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 ...

. He then received a bachelor's degree in economics from

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 ...

, followed by a master's degree in economics from the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

.Interview with Roger Hertog by Professor Joseph Weiler
Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization, September 19, 2008 He worked as an economic advisor for the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

. In 1967, he founded the investment management firm

Sanford Bernstein AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services worldwide to institutional, high-net-worth and retail investors. AllianceBernstein's headquarters are located in Nashvi ...

. When he first founded Sanford C. Bernstein, his brother Paul P. Bernstein was his sole partner.

Personal life

Bernstein married three times and had three children by his third wife, Mem Dryan Bernstein. He died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

in 1999. In the 1980s, he became an

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

and dropped his English name, Sanford, for his

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

one, Zalman. He attended

Lincoln Square Synagogue The Lincoln Square Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox congregation and synagogue located at 180 Amsterdam Avenue between West 68th and 69th Streets in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1964, the synagogue ...

and became a friend of its rabbi,

Shlomo Riskin Shlomo Riskin (; born May 28, 1940) is an Orthodox rabbi, and the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 20 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Is ...

. In 1989, he made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

(moved to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

). He also founded the Jewish organizations Avi Chai Foundation and

Tikvah Fund The Tikvah Fund () is an American conservative nonprofit charitable foundation whose stated mission is to promote Jewish thought and ideas. Activities In 2011 the Fund provided a four-year $12.5 million grant to the Shalem Center to form an Ameri ...

References

1926 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American philanthropists American emigrants to Israel American Orthodox Jews Businesspeople from Brooklyn Harvard Business School alumni New York University College of Arts & Science alumni {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub