Business Scene

Miriam and Sheldon Adelson will be honorary chairs of the donor conference which will celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
sheldon adelson 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
sheldon adelson 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
MARKSTONE CAPITAL co-founder and chairman, Elliott Broidy, has quite a few feathers in his cap. Broidy was recently asked by President Shimon Peres to take on the chairmanship of the donor committee for the mega-conference that will be one of the highlights of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. Honorary chairs of the conference, which will be held in mid-May in Jerusalem, are Miriam and Sheldon Adelson and lawyer Yair Green. Among the business leaders who have already indicated they intend to attend are Google founder Sergey Brinn, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerman, News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata. A newer feather in Broidy's cap was receiving The Raoul Wallenberg Award. Given periodically by The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States, it was bestowed on him last week at a gala awards ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, at a dinner hosted by the Raoul Wallenberg Committee and the Gateways Organization, a leading nonprofit Jewish organization whose teachings embody the spirit of Wallenberg's values. Markstone, Israel's largest private equity fund, with $780 million under management, is managed by Amir Kess, Ron Lubash and Broidy. The fund has offices in Israel and the US. Its holdings include Nilit, PRS, Steimatzky, Magnolia Jewelry, Netafim, Elran Real Estate and the Prisma Investment House. To date, the fund has invested nearly half a billion dollars in Israeli companies - creating hundreds of new jobs and helping the Israeli economy. The Wallenberg Committee was founded in 1981 to perpetuate the humanitarian ideals and the nonviolent courage of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved numerous Hungarian Jews from the clutches of the Nazis, and is considered by many to have been one of the great humanitarians of the 20th Century. The committee members are: Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, Malka and Marvin Hier, Fraidy and Malcolm Hoenlein, and Ingeborg and Ira Rennert, all of whom are also heavily connected with Israel. Broidy is dedicated to strengthening the US, where he was born, and Israel, which is his spiritual homeland. In 2002, when Palestinian terrorist attacks threatened Israel's security and its economic stability, Broidy formed Markstone Capital Partners with the intent of providing a superior return to its investors while strengthening Israel's economic viability. IT'S COMMON knowledge that Channel 2 is a long way from being the best financial investment in the world. It has also been criticized for not having enough variety in its programming. That situation may not change in a hurry. Then again it might, because Haim Saban, who, through the Saban Capital Group owned 24 percent of the action in Keshet, which is one of the two Channel 2 franchisees, has sold out to a consortium headed by Moshe Wertheimer for $45m. Wertheimer owned a 39% stake in Keshet prior to the transaction. The deal may be sweetened not only for him but for Rafi Ginat, who has been waiting in the wings to become CEO of Channel News Corporation. Wertheimer was rooting for Ginat, but was out-voted by other shareholders. With the additional clout of his new acquisition, he might just get his own way. AFRICA ISRAEL is becoming like a railway station with comings and goings of executive employees. The latest on the list is Vice CEO Resources Gal Mirla, who joined Africa Israel early last year and is expected to wind up her post some time this June or July. Mirla was closely associated with former CEO Erez Meltzer, which might be the reason for her departure. Her replacement is strategy advisor Gideon Kadosi.