Daniel Och (born 1961) is an American
billionaire hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman and former CEO of
Och-Ziff Capital Management, a global hedge fund and alternative asset management firm.
According to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' he has a
net worth of US$3.6 billion, as of August 2021.
Early life and education
Och is Jewish, the son of Golda and Dr. Michael Och.
[New Jersey Jewish News: "Schechter school mourns founder Golda Och, 74"](_blank)
January 13, 2010 Och grew up in
Maplewood, New Jersey and attended the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union (since renamed
Golda Och Academy, in honor of his mother) in
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census. , a Jewish day school founded by his parents.
In December 2010, Och donated $15 million to the school, effectively doubling its endowment. Och has a bachelor's degree in economics with a concentration in finance from the
Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...
of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
Investment career
In 1982, Och began his career at
Goldman Sachs in the
Risk Arbitrage Department. He was later the head of
proprietary trading in the Equities Division and co-head of U.S. Equities Trading. He worked at Goldman Sachs for 11 years.
In 1994, Och founded Och-Ziff Capital Management Group with $100 million initial investment from the brothers
Dirk Edward Ziff,
Daniel M. Ziff, and
Robert D. Ziff, heirs to publishing magnate
William Bernard Ziff, Jr.[ Och-Ziff completed an initial public offering in 2007, listing its shares on the ]New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
initially at a price of $32.00. The company's stock has declined significantly since the IPO, reaching its all-time low of 3.29 on July 22, 2016.
In February 2014, Forbes listed Daniel Och as one of the 25 Highest-Earning hedge fund managers in 2013. His 2013 total earnings of $400 million ranks him the 17th among the 25 top earning hedge fund managers.
On May 8, 2015, Och was targeted by the "Hedge Clippers" activist group, who protested outside of his residence at 15 Central Park West
15 Central Park West (also known as 15 CPW) is a luxury residential condominium along Central Park West, between 61st and 62nd Streets adjacent to Central Park, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was constructed from 2005 t ...
, New York City.
In September 2016, the U.S. government fined Och $2.2 million and the Och-Ziff fund $413 million for paying over $100 million in bribes to various African government officials.
In February 2018, Och was replaced as CEO of Och-Ziff by Robert Shafir. Och remains chairman until March 2019. This change in leadership occurred following the 2016 bribery scandal and caused turmoil as Och had formerly indicated James Levin would be his successor before retracting that statement.
Dan Och now invests out of his single-family office, Willoughby Capital, and his new $750M SPAC, AJAX Holdings.
Donations
Philanthropy
Och sits on the board of Endeavor. He is the vice chair of Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization fighting poverty in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He has sat on the board of trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 2005.University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
established The Och Initiative for Women in Finance named after the Och family.
In May 2022, The Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation announced a $50 million gift to the New York-Presbyterain. The donation is to expand the Och Spine program across the New York area by increasing access to spinal care by establishing additional Och Spine facilities, while focuising additional resources on non-operative services and care.
Political contributions
In 2008, Och donated $28,500 to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Personal life
Och is married to Jane Och with whom he has three children.
References
External links
"Strong character: Face to face with Daniel S. Och," (Pensions & Investments)Website
for the NewYork-Presbyterian ''Och Spine Hospital''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Och, Daniel
1961 births
Living people
American billionaires
American chief executives of financial services companies
American financial analysts
American financial company founders
American financial traders
American financiers
American hedge fund managers
American investors
Businesspeople from New Jersey
Golda Och Academy alumni
Goldman Sachs people
Jewish American philanthropists
People from South Orange, New Jersey
Private equity and venture capital investors
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
21st-century American Jews