Matthew Bronfman (born July 16, 1959) is an American businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist. A member of the

Bronfman family The Bronfman family is a Canadian family, known for its extensive business holdings. It owes its initial fame to Samuel Bronfman (1889–1971), the most influential Canadian Jew of the mid-20th century, who made a fortune in the alcoholic distill ...

, he is the son of prominent businessman and philanthropist Edgar Bronfman, Sr.

Biography

Bronfman is one of seven children, one of five from Ann (Loeb) and Edgar Miles Bronfman. His mother was the daughter of John Langeloth Loeb Sr. (a

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

whose company was a predecessor of

Shearson Lehman Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonAmerican Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

) and

Frances Lehman The Lehman family is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgenthau, Loeb, and Bronfman families. The ...

(a member of the

Lehman family The Lehman family is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgenthau, Loeb, and Bronfman families. The ...

that founded the

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

banking firm). They divorced in 1973. Bronfman attended Cardigan Mountain School, Taft School, and graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

in 1981. After working at

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

he attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

where he graduated in 1985. Bronfman began his career at

and the

Cadillac Fairview Corporation The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited is a Canadian company that invests in, owns, and manages commercial real estate, mainly in Canada and the United States. As of March 2017, the company had 73 properties, encompassing 38 million square feet ...

. As one of the largest American Jewish investors in the Israeli economy, Bronfman is also the main shareholder in IKEA Israel, Israel Discount Bank and the Shufersal supermarket chain. He is also the chairman and CEO of BHB holdings, a family holding company. Previously, He was a managing director at ACI Holdings, a private equity firm based in New York. He is a former director of Jenny Craig, BizBash Media Inc., Palace Candles, Inc., EARNEST Partners, LLC, Tweeter (store), Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc., and James River Group, Inc.

Philanthropy

Bronfman is the chairman of the international steering committee of Limmud FSU, a program focused on strengthening the Jewish identities of Russian-speaking Jews, and the chairman of the American Jewish Committee’s ACCESS, which trains Jewish professionals to shape public opinion and policy around the world. He is also the managing principal of the Treetops Foundation, a charity focused on Jewish philanthropy and is on the boards of 92nd Street Y and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

Personal life

Bronfman has been married four times. His first wife was Fiona Woods; they divorced in June 1997. They had three children: Gabriela Talia Bronfman, Eli Miles Bronfman, and Jeremy Samuel Bronfman. In December 1997, he married Lisa Belzberg, daughter of Canadian businessman Samuel Belzberg, with whom he has three children, Sasha Eliana Bronfman, Tess Emanuella Bronfman and Ezekiel Belzberg Bronfman. In 2005, he married Stacey Kaye with whom he had one child, Coby Benjamin Bronfman; they divorced in 2016.New York Daily News: "Divorced Seagram heir steps out with new girlfriend" By Emily Smith
May 23, 2016 In April 2017, he married Israeli Melanie Lavie with whom he had his eighth child, James Raphael Bronfman, and his ninth child, Stella Ann Bronfman. He currently resides in Manhattan. His sons Jeremy and Eli founded Lincoln Avenue Capital, a real estate investor and developer in affordable housing. His son, Zeke, is the cofounder and CEO of Xed beverages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronfman, Matthew 1959 births Living people American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American philanthropists Harvard Business School alumni Williams College alumni Businesspeople from New York City Lehman family Philanthropists from New York (state) Carl M. Loeb family