Mortimer Zuckerman
Encyclopedia
Mortimer Benjamin "Mort" Zuckerman (born June 4, 1937) is a Canadian-born American business magnate
with interests primarily in magazines, publishing
, and real estate
. He is now a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In 2008, Zuckerman was the 147th wealthiest American and, in 2007, the 188th per Forbes. In 2006, he was ranked 382nd. The increase was related to the sale in 2007 of 5 Times Square and 280 Park Avenue in New York, which together realized US$2.5 billion for his company, Boston Properties, Inc.
He has been the publisher and owner of the New York Daily News
since 1993 and, as of 2007, is the current editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report
. He co-founded Boston Properties, Inc., in 1970 and serves as the chairman of the board and director.
, Quebec
, Canada to a Jewish family, and entered McGill University
at the age of 16. He graduated from McGill with a B.A.
in 1957 and a BCL
in 1961, although he never took the bar exam. That same year, Zuckerman entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
, where he earned an M.B.A. degree with a distinction of honor. He also received an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School
in 1962.
as an associate professor for nine years. He also taught at Yale University
. Zuckerman spent seven years at the real estate firm Cabot, Cabot & Forbes
, where he rose to the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer.
In 1980, he purchased the literary magazine The Atlantic Monthly
, where he was the chairman from 1980 to 1999. In 1999 he sold the magazine to David G. Bradley
for US$12 million. Commenting on this sale and that of Fast Company
magazine, which he sold for $365 million at the height of the tech boom in 2000, he quipped, "I averaged out."
While he still owned Atlantic Monthly, in 1984, Mortimer Zuckerman bought U.S. News & World Report
, where he remains its editor-in-chief.
and The McLaughlin Group
and writes columns for U.S. News & World Report
and the New York Daily News
.
"While Zuckerman has always randomly switched back and forth between the parties," since the late 1970s, he has donated more than $68,000 to American political candidates with $42,700 going to Democratic politicians and $24,000 to independent interests.
On July 12, 2010, Zuckerman claimed in an interview that he helped to write one of President Barack Obama
's political speeches. Long-time Obama speechwriters Jon Favreau
and Ben Rhodes disputed the claim and asserted that neither "has ever met or spoken to Mort Zuckerman." Zuckerman later published a clarification of his remarks, stating that his help had come in the form of private conversations with various political officials in which he had offered advice and perspective on different issues.
Zuckerman, a long-time supporter of the Democratic party who cast his vote for Barack Obama
in the 2008 presidential election, was critical of President Obama on several fronts. Following the downgrade of US treasury debt by Standard & Poor's in 2011, Zuckerman wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "I long for a triple-A president to run a triple-A country." After initially supporting President Obama's call for heavy infrastructure spending to revive the economy, Zuckerman criticized the composition of the plan, stating "But if you look at the make-up of the stimulus program, roughly half of it went to state and local municipalities, which is in effect to the municipal unions which are at the core of the Democratic party."
On President Obama's healthcare reform bill, Zuckerman stated: "Eighty percent of the country wanted them to get costs under control, not to extend the coverage. They used all their political capital to extend the coverage. I always had the feeling the country looked at the bill and said, 'Well, he may be doing it because he wants to be a transformational president, but I want to get my costs down!"
On December 19, 2008, Zuckerman's second daughter, Renée Esther, was born; the mother was not identified. The child's birth was announced in the "Gatecrasher" column of the Daily News on December 23, 2008.
He keeps houses in New York City
, East Hampton, New York
and Aspen, Colorado
. He also keeps a 166-foot Oceanco Yacht, the Lazy Z. For transportation, he previously owned a Falcon 900 corporate jet but has recently purchased a Gulfstream G550.
i and international Jewish causes. Between 2001 and 2003, Zuckerman was the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Typically, the nominating committee attempts to choose a person who is both respected and uncontroversial. However, Zuckerman was widely opposed by liberal Jewish factions. Nonetheless, Zuckerman was eventually elected and served a full term.
In their 2006 paper The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
, John Mearsheimer
, political science professor at the University of Chicago
, and Stephen Walt
, academic dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
, named Zuckerman a member of the media wing of the "Israeli lobby
" in the United States. Zuckerman replied: "I would just say this: The allegations of this disproportionate influence of the Jewish community remind me of the 92-year-old man sued in a paternity suit. He said he was so proud; he pleaded guilty."
President George W. Bush
appointed Zuckerman to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.
, the Aspen Institute
, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
, the Hole in the Wall Gang Fund, and the Center for Communications. He is a member of the JPMorgan's National Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations
, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies
. He has been a president of the board of trustees of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
in Boston.
Zuckerman is known to be a mentor to and close associate of Daniel M. Snyder
, owner of the NFL football
team Washington Redskins
, and has been a financial backer to Snyder's business ventures (CampusUSA magazine), and was a shareholder and director in Snyder Communications Inc.
, a marketing services business which was taken over in 2000 (by Havas Advertising
).
.
," by way of investments with Fifth Avenue Synagogue
president J. Ezra Merkin
who staked roughly 10% ($30 million) of Zuckerman's charitable trust fund with convicted scammer Bernard Madoff
. Zuckerman has stated that all current charitable obligations will still be honored with no changes. At a forum at the YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research in New York, he remarked that no one since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
, executed in 1953 for giving atomic secrets to the Soviet Union
, "has so damaged the image and self respect of American Jews."
On April 6, 2009, Zuckerman filed a lawsuit against J. Ezra Merkin
and his Gabriel Capital LP. The lawsuit claims fraud and negligent representation and seeks unspecified punitive damages
. Merkin had a “huge incentive not to disclose Madoff’s role, especially to investors like Zuckerman” because he charged clients “substantial fees” to manage both his Ascot Partners LP and Gabriel Capital. The lawsuit claims over US$40 million in losses for placing his assets with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC without his knowledge. Zuckerman invested US$25 million with Merkin’s Ascot Fund in 2006 through his Charitable Remainder Trust or CRT Investments Limited and personally invested US$15 million with Merkin’s Gabriel Capital. Merkin charged Zuckerman a 1.5% fee and imposed significant “lock-up restrictions on redemptions,", but his agreement with Gabriel Capital contains an arbitration
clause against Merkin for his lost personal US$15 million investment. The lawsuit also named the accounting firm BDO Seidman LLP and a related entity called BDO Tortuga as defendants.
The case is CRT Investments Ltd. v. J. Ezra Merkin, 601052/2009, filed in New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan
).
for her New York United States Senate
seat in the 2010 election
to fill the unexpired term of this seat (which comes up for a full six year term in 2012). Although Zuckerman has been known as a Democrat, he was speculated to run as a Republican or an independent in order to avoid an expensive primary.
Critics pointed to apparent inconsistencies in Zuckerman's publicly-stated positions on key issues. Wayne Barrett
of the Village Voice wrote: "If real estate titan Mort Zuckerman gets into the senate race against Kirsten Gillibrand
, we'll finally have a vigorous debate about the big-ticket issues troubling Americans. All we have to do is listen to Mort and we'll get both sides of the key economic questions."
However, on March 2, 2010 he declined to run, citing family and work obligations.
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
with interests primarily in magazines, publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
. He is now a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In 2008, Zuckerman was the 147th wealthiest American and, in 2007, the 188th per Forbes. In 2006, he was ranked 382nd. The increase was related to the sale in 2007 of 5 Times Square and 280 Park Avenue in New York, which together realized US$2.5 billion for his company, Boston Properties, Inc.
Boston Properties
Boston Properties, Inc. is a self-managed real estate investment trust based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its primary focus is "Class A" office space which it acquires, develops, and manages in the major markets of Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco...
He has been the publisher and owner of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
since 1993 and, as of 2007, is the current editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
. He co-founded Boston Properties, Inc., in 1970 and serves as the chairman of the board and director.
Early life and education
Zuckerman was born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada to a Jewish family, and entered McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
at the age of 16. He graduated from McGill with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1957 and a BCL
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. Historically, it originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but many universities now offer the BCL as an undergraduate degree...
in 1961, although he never took the bar exam. That same year, Zuckerman entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
, where he earned an M.B.A. degree with a distinction of honor. He also received an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1962.
Business career
After graduating, Zuckerman remained at Harvard Business SchoolHarvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
as an associate professor for nine years. He also taught at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Zuckerman spent seven years at the real estate firm Cabot, Cabot & Forbes
Cabot, Cabot & Forbes
Cabot, Cabot & Forbes was founded by Francis Murray Forbes in 1897 as a real estate management firm. It is one of Boston's larges firms in that industry., with interests on a nationwide basis.Notable American business leaders who have worked at this firm:...
, where he rose to the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer.
In 1980, he purchased the literary magazine The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, where he was the chairman from 1980 to 1999. In 1999 he sold the magazine to David G. Bradley
David G. Bradley
David G. Bradley is the owner of the Atlantic Media Company, which publishes several prominent news magazines and services including The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal, The Hotline and Government Executive...
for US$12 million. Commenting on this sale and that of Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
magazine, which he sold for $365 million at the height of the tech boom in 2000, he quipped, "I averaged out."
While he still owned Atlantic Monthly, in 1984, Mortimer Zuckerman bought U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
, where he remains its editor-in-chief.
Politics
In addition to his publishing and real-estate interests, Zuckerman is also a frequent commentator on world affairs, both as an editorialist and on television. He regularly appears on MSNBCMSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and The McLaughlin Group
The McLaughlin Group
The McLaughlin Group is a syndicated half-hour weekly public affairs television program in the United States, where a group of five pundits discuss current political issues in a round table format. It has been broadcast since 1982, and is currently sponsored by MetLife...
and writes columns for U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
and the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
.
"While Zuckerman has always randomly switched back and forth between the parties," since the late 1970s, he has donated more than $68,000 to American political candidates with $42,700 going to Democratic politicians and $24,000 to independent interests.
On July 12, 2010, Zuckerman claimed in an interview that he helped to write one of President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's political speeches. Long-time Obama speechwriters Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau (speechwriter)
Jonathan "Jon" Favreau is Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama. Favreau attended the College of the Holy Cross, graduating as valedictorian. In college, he accumulated a variety of scholastic honors, and took part in and directed numerous community and civic programs...
and Ben Rhodes disputed the claim and asserted that neither "has ever met or spoken to Mort Zuckerman." Zuckerman later published a clarification of his remarks, stating that his help had come in the form of private conversations with various political officials in which he had offered advice and perspective on different issues.
Zuckerman, a long-time supporter of the Democratic party who cast his vote for Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in the 2008 presidential election, was critical of President Obama on several fronts. Following the downgrade of US treasury debt by Standard & Poor's in 2011, Zuckerman wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "I long for a triple-A president to run a triple-A country." After initially supporting President Obama's call for heavy infrastructure spending to revive the economy, Zuckerman criticized the composition of the plan, stating "But if you look at the make-up of the stimulus program, roughly half of it went to state and local municipalities, which is in effect to the municipal unions which are at the core of the Democratic party."
On President Obama's healthcare reform bill, Zuckerman stated: "Eighty percent of the country wanted them to get costs under control, not to extend the coverage. They used all their political capital to extend the coverage. I always had the feeling the country looked at the bill and said, 'Well, he may be doing it because he wants to be a transformational president, but I want to get my costs down!"
Personal life
In 1996, Zuckerman married Marla Prather (born 1956), a curator of the National Gallery of Art; they divorced in 2001.On December 19, 2008, Zuckerman's second daughter, Renée Esther, was born; the mother was not identified. The child's birth was announced in the "Gatecrasher" column of the Daily News on December 23, 2008.
He keeps houses in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, East Hampton, New York
East Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
and Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
. He also keeps a 166-foot Oceanco Yacht, the Lazy Z. For transportation, he previously owned a Falcon 900 corporate jet but has recently purchased a Gulfstream G550.
Jewish causes
Zuckerman is also an active supporter of IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i and international Jewish causes. Between 2001 and 2003, Zuckerman was the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Typically, the nominating committee attempts to choose a person who is both respected and uncontroversial. However, Zuckerman was widely opposed by liberal Jewish factions. Nonetheless, Zuckerman was eventually elected and served a full term.
In their 2006 paper The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is the title of a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published in late August 2007...
, John Mearsheimer
John Mearsheimer
John J. Mearsheimer is an American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is an international relations theorist. Known for his book on offensive realism, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, more recently Mearsheimer has attracted attention for co-authoring and publishing...
, political science professor at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and Stephen Walt
Stephen Walt
Stephen Martin Walt is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Among his most prominent works are and . He coauthored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy with John Mearsheimer.-Education and career:In 1983, he received a Ph.D. in...
, academic dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, named Zuckerman a member of the media wing of the "Israeli lobby
Israel lobby in the United States
The Israel lobby is a term used to describe the diverse coalition of those who, as individuals and as groups, seek and have sought to influence the foreign policy of the United States in support of Zionism, Israel or the specific policies of its government...
" in the United States. Zuckerman replied: "I would just say this: The allegations of this disproportionate influence of the Jewish community remind me of the 92-year-old man sued in a paternity suit. He said he was so proud; he pleaded guilty."
President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
appointed Zuckerman to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.
Appointments and associations
Zuckerman serves on the boards of trustees of several educational and private institutions such as New York UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, the Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
, the Hole in the Wall Gang Fund, and the Center for Communications. He is a member of the JPMorgan's National Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is a think tank based in Washington, D.C. focused on United States foreign policy in the Middle East. It was established by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 1985...
, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
. He has been a president of the board of trustees of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is part of a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute. It is a major affiliate of Harvard Medical School and is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts.-Overview:...
in Boston.
Zuckerman is known to be a mentor to and close associate of Daniel M. Snyder
Daniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
, owner of the NFL football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, and has been a financial backer to Snyder's business ventures (CampusUSA magazine), and was a shareholder and director in Snyder Communications Inc.
Snyder Communications
Snyder Communications Inc. was founded in 1988 by Daniel M. Snyder and his sister Michelle Snyder. Their activities were mainly outsourced marketing services, such as Direct marketing, database marketing, proprietary product sampling, sponsored information display in prime locations, call centres,...
, a marketing services business which was taken over in 2000 (by Havas Advertising
Havas
Havas is the second largest advertising group in France and is a "Global advertising and communications services group" and the sixth-largest global advertising and communications group worldwide, operating on the communications consulting market through three main operational divisions:*Euro RSCG...
).
Honors
Zuckerman was awarded an honorary degree from Colby College and the Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
.
Bernard Madoff investment scandal
Zuckerman is one of the investors defrauded in a "Ponzi SchemePonzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...
," by way of investments with Fifth Avenue Synagogue
Fifth Avenue Synagogue
The Fifth Avenue Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 5 East 62nd Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.-Founding:...
president J. Ezra Merkin
J. Ezra Merkin
Jacob Ezra Merkin is a former money manager and financier. He was a close business associate of Bernard Madoff, and is alleged to have played a significant part in the Madoff fraud. He served as the Non-executive Chairman of GMAC until his resignation on January 9, 2009, at the insistence of the...
who staked roughly 10% ($30 million) of Zuckerman's charitable trust fund with convicted scammer Bernard Madoff
Bernard Madoff
Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff is a former American businessman, stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S...
. Zuckerman has stated that all current charitable obligations will still be honored with no changes. At a forum at the YIVO
YIVO
YIVO, , established in 1925 in Wilno, Poland as the Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut , or Yiddish Scientific Institute, is a source for orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to the Yiddish language...
Institute for Jewish Research in New York, he remarked that no one since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to their passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union...
, executed in 1953 for giving atomic secrets to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, "has so damaged the image and self respect of American Jews."
On April 6, 2009, Zuckerman filed a lawsuit against J. Ezra Merkin
J. Ezra Merkin
Jacob Ezra Merkin is a former money manager and financier. He was a close business associate of Bernard Madoff, and is alleged to have played a significant part in the Madoff fraud. He served as the Non-executive Chairman of GMAC until his resignation on January 9, 2009, at the insistence of the...
and his Gabriel Capital LP. The lawsuit claims fraud and negligent representation and seeks unspecified punitive damages
Punitive damages
Punitive damages or exemplary damages are damages intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit...
. Merkin had a “huge incentive not to disclose Madoff’s role, especially to investors like Zuckerman” because he charged clients “substantial fees” to manage both his Ascot Partners LP and Gabriel Capital. The lawsuit claims over US$40 million in losses for placing his assets with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC without his knowledge. Zuckerman invested US$25 million with Merkin’s Ascot Fund in 2006 through his Charitable Remainder Trust or CRT Investments Limited and personally invested US$15 million with Merkin’s Gabriel Capital. Merkin charged Zuckerman a 1.5% fee and imposed significant “lock-up restrictions on redemptions,", but his agreement with Gabriel Capital contains an arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
clause against Merkin for his lost personal US$15 million investment. The lawsuit also named the accounting firm BDO Seidman LLP and a related entity called BDO Tortuga as defendants.
The case is CRT Investments Ltd. v. J. Ezra Merkin, 601052/2009, filed in New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
).
2010 election
Zuckerman considered challenging Kirsten GillibrandKirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik Gillibrand is an attorney and the junior United States Senator from the state of New York and a member of the Democratic Party...
for her New York United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat in the 2010 election
United States Senate special election in New York, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate special election in New York took place on November 2, 2010, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections...
to fill the unexpired term of this seat (which comes up for a full six year term in 2012). Although Zuckerman has been known as a Democrat, he was speculated to run as a Republican or an independent in order to avoid an expensive primary.
Critics pointed to apparent inconsistencies in Zuckerman's publicly-stated positions on key issues. Wayne Barrett
Wayne Barrett
Wayne Barrett is an American journalist. He was an investigative reporter and senior editor for the Village Voice for over 20 years. He is currently a fellow with the Nation Institute and contributor to Newsweek....
of the Village Voice wrote: "If real estate titan Mort Zuckerman gets into the senate race against Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik Gillibrand is an attorney and the junior United States Senator from the state of New York and a member of the Democratic Party...
, we'll finally have a vigorous debate about the big-ticket issues troubling Americans. All we have to do is listen to Mort and we'll get both sides of the key economic questions."
However, on March 2, 2010 he declined to run, citing family and work obligations.
External links
- Column archive at The Daily BeastThe Daily BeastThe Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
- Blog archive at The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
- Column archive at Jewish World ReviewJewish World ReviewJewish World Review is a free, online magazine updated Monday through Friday , which seeks to appeal to "people of faith and those interested in learning more about contemporary Judaism from Jews who take their religion seriously."It carries informational articles related to Judaism, dozens of...
- Profile at ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...