Sammy Ofer
Sammy Ofer | |
|---|---|
סמי עופר | |
| File:Sammy Ofer.JpEg | |
| Born | Shmuel Herskovich 22 February 1922 |
| Died | 3 June 2011 (aged 89) Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Spouse | Aviva Ofer |
| Children | Eyal Ofer, Idan Ofer |
| Relatives | Yuli Ofer (brother) |
Sammy Ofer (Hebrew: שמואל "סמי" עופר; born Shmuel Herskovich; 22 February 1922 – 3 June 2011)[2] was an Israeli shipping magnate and one of the richest men in the country.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Shmuel Herskovich was born in 1922 in Galați, Romania, to a Jewish family.[3] In 1924, his family immigrated to the then British Mandate of Palestine. The family resided in the city of Haifa. With the start of World War II, he enlisted in the British Royal Navy.[3] During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he served in the Israeli Sea Corps.
Career
[edit | edit source]After finishing his military service, he became a shipping agent with the Eastern Conglomerate, and by 1950 had bought his first ship. He expanded in the shipping business.[4]
Ofer's assets were partly in his exclusive ownership and partly owned together with his brother Yuli, consisting of one of the largest private shipping companies in the world, with a value of $3.6 billion in 2011.[5] This includes the companies ZIM, Royal Caribbean International, Israel Corporation, Israel Chemicals, Oil Refineries Ltd, Bank Mizrahi-Tfahot, and Tower Semiconductor.
The annual Forbes magazine's list of The World's Billionaires estimated in 2011 his fortune, together with his brother Yuli's, to be $10.3 billion, ranked him in 2011 as the 79th in the wealthiest people in the world, and the wealthiest man in Israel.[6]
Philanthropy
[edit | edit source]In March 2008, Ofer donated £20 million to London's National Maritime Museum (NMM) at Greenwich, as part of a £35 million programme of expansion.[7] Ofer donated £3.3 million to help complete the restoration of the Cutty Sark by 2010.[8]
In 2013, a £1.5 million donation from Eyal Ofer enabled the NMM to buy two paintings by George Stubbs from 1772. The paintings depict a kangaroo and a dingo, and are the first depictions of Australian animals in Western art.[9]
In 2007, Ofer donated $25 million to the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, which included $17 million[10] for its 2000-bed Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital.[11]
On 10 November 2008 he was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in recognition of his involvement with maritime heritage in the United Kingdom.[12]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]He was married to Aviva Ofer. They had two sons: Idan Ofer and Eyal Ofer. They mainly resided in Monte Carlo, Monaco.[citation needed]
Death
[edit | edit source]On 3 June 2011, Ofer died in his house in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the age of 89.[13]
Legacy
[edit | edit source]In 2013, Idan Ofer donated £25 million to London Business School in honor of his father, Sammy.[14] A new educational facility at Marylebone Town Hall was established as the Sammy Ofer Centre. The gift was the largest in the school's history.[14] There is also a well-known Israeli soccer stadium named after him that he also partially funded, Sammy Ofer Stadium in the city Haifa, Israel.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Magnatul israelian Sammy Ofer, nascut in Romania, a decedat la varsta de 89 de ani
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b John Reed, Idan Ofer: fleeing Israel's new populism, The Financial Times, 12 April 2013
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- ^ 'Tats' and tales The Jerusalem Post; Accessed 22 July 2024.
- ^ Amid northern jitters, Haifa's fortified underground hospital readies for war Times of Israel; Accessed 22 July 2024.
- ^ Honorary Awards Archived 5 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Della Bradshaw, Adam Palin, Idan Ofer gives £25m to London Business School, The Financial Times, 26 September 2013
- 1922 births
- 2011 deaths
- Israeli businesspeople in shipping
- Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Israeli billionaires
- Israeli chief executives
- Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
- Royal Navy personnel of World War II
- Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
- Israeli philanthropists
- Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine
- Jewish military personnel
- Naturalized citizens of Israel
- People from Galați
- Businesspeople from Tel Aviv
- Romanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
- Ofer family
- Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery
- 20th-century philanthropists
- Romanian Ashkenazi Jews
- Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent
- Romanian emigrants to Israel
- Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II
- Businesspeople awarded knighthoods