Elliott Broidy
American venture capitalist and Republican fundraiser (born 1957)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elliott B. Broidy (born 1957) is an American businessman and Republican fundraiser.
Elliott Broidy | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1957 (age 69)[1][2] Westwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of Southern California (BS) |
| Occupations | Businessman, Republican fundraiser |
Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Robin Rosenzweig |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | elliottbroidy |
Broidy founded Markstone Capital Partners in 2002, a private equity firm investing in Israeli companies. He served as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2005 to 2008. He was appointed by George W. Bush in 2005 to the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council and the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Broidy pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in 2009, paying restitution and resigning from Markstone. He helped prosecutors secure the conviction of former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi in a pay to play scheme for the New York state pension fund.[3]
Broidy purchased open-source intelligence provider Circinus LLC in 2014. He served as deputy finance chairman of the RNC from 2017 to April 2018, but resigned after reports of a non-disclosure agreement with former Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard regarding a sexual affair between them. Broidy pleaded guilty in October 2020 to acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Chinese and Malaysian interests lobbying the Trump administration.[4][5] He was pardoned by President Donald Trump on January 19, 2021 for that role.[6] He owns Broidy Capital Holdings, which invests in artificial intelligence, public safety technology, and defense industry.
Early life and education
Broidy was born to Sherman, World War II veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, an educator and property developer, and Dorothy née Horowitz, a nurse, and raised in Westwood, Los Angeles.[7][8] He is Jewish.[9]
He stated that he worked "as a commercial salmon fisherman" to finance his studies at the University of Southern California, saving $10,000 to buy a laundromat, which provided further income.[2] He graduated from USC with a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance.[10]
Career
Broidy began his career in finance at Arthur Andersen in the tax department, as a Certified Public Accountant from 1982 to 1993.[11][12] One of his clients, Taco Bell founder Glen Bell, then hired him to manage the Bell family office and personal investments. He was the managing director at Bell Enterprises from 1982 to 1991.[13][2] He founded an investment firm, Broidy Capital Management in 1991, serving as its chairman and chief executive officer.[10][11][14] He served as a trustee of the Los Angeles City Fire and Police Pension Fund from 2002 to 2009.[10][15]
Markstone Capital Partners
Broidy co-founded a private equity firm, Markstone Capital Partners, in 2002, which invested in Israeli firms.[2] The firm received $800 million, mostly from government employee pension funds in California, New York, and other states, as well as the city of Los Angeles.[2][15] The lead investor was the New York State Common Pension Fund,[11][10][16] which invested $250 million with the firm.[17]
Following a corruption investigation of former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Broidy was charged in connection, and plead guilty in 2009, which the judge reduced to a misdemeanor.[15][3][18][19] He paid $18 million in restitution to the state, resigned from Markstone, and his cooperation helped lead to the conviction of Hevesi and six other pension officials.[2][17][20] Broidy had provided $1 million in illegal gifts to New York State pension authorities, and in exchange, the state pension fund had invested $250 million with his firm, Markstone Capital Partners.[17][21][19]
Circinus LLC
Broidy purchased Circinus LLC in 2015, a security provider for the United States and other governments.[22][23] He used his connections to president Trump to secure international clients for the business.[23][24]
In October 2017, in a private meeting with president Donald Trump, Broidy praised a paramilitary force his company Circinus was creating for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He urged the president to meet with the UAE's military commander Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, to support the UAE's hawkish policies in the Middle East, and to fire United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He was also critical of Qatar, an American ally at odds with the UAE.[22][25] Revealed on March 22, 2018, after Tillerson had been fired, Broidy had been allegedly paid $2.6 million by Lebanese-American businessman George Nader to lobby the White House on behalf of the best interests of both the UAE and Saudi Arabia and against Qatar.[9] In March 2018, The New York Times reported that Nader "worked for more than a year to turn Broidy into an instrument of influence at the White House for the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to interviews and previously undisclosed documents. ...High on the agenda of the two men...was pushing the White House to remove Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, backing confrontational approaches to Iran and Qatar and repeatedly pressing the president to meet privately outside the White House with the leader of the U.A.E."[26]
Conviction and pardon
In March 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Broidy had been in negotiations to earn tens of millions of dollars by lobbying the U.S. Justice Department to drop its investigation into a multibillion-dollar graft, the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal involving a Malaysian state investment fund, 1MDB, according to emails reviewed by the Journal. One email showed a proposal that would have given Broidy and his wife $75 million if they got the Justice Department to drop its probe into 1MDB. Broidy also prepared talking points for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to use with President Trump during his 2017 visit to Washington, D.C. This included playing up Malaysia's relationship with the U.S. in fighting North Korea and arguing against pursuing legal action against 1MDB.[27][28] Najib would eventually be convicted of corruption by a Malaysian court. The Department of Justice is investigating whether the Trump Victory Committee took a $100,000 donation from Malaysian businessman and international fugitive Jho Low, who is accused of being the mastermind of the 1MDB fraud.[29][30]
A July 2018 report revealed that Broidy had paid Rick Gates, Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, at least $125,000 for "advice and business insight." Gates had been indicted in October 2017 as a result of the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The payments began in March 2017 and went on until at least July.[31]
In late April 2018, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an end to the fighting among Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar during a trip to the Gulf.[32]
In March 2018, Broidy filed a lawsuit against Qatar, alleging that Qatar's government stole and leaked his emails in order to discredit him because he was viewed "as an impediment to their plan to improve the country's standing in Washington."[33] In May 2018, the lawsuit named Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, brother of the Emir of Qatar, and his associate Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, as allegedly orchestrating Qatar's cyber warfare campaign against Broidy.[34][35] Broidy accused UN diplomat Jamal Benomar of being a secret Qatari agent, and filed suit for the alleged hacking. In the case Broidy Capital Management LLC v. Jamal Benomar, it was determined that Jamal Benomar (of Qatar) had diplomatic immunity that prevented him from facing litigation. As per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic immunity is subject to waiver if the diplomat engaged in commercial activity.[36] In this case, it was not proven that Benomar had engaged in said commercial activity. The appellate court determined that there was not sufficient evidence to waive Benomar's diplomatic immunity, and the case was dismissed.[37]
Broidy Capital Holdings
Broidy Capital Holdings is a private equity investment firm in Boca Raton, Florida, founded by Broidy that represents a continuation of his earlier company, Broidy Capital Management (1991–2022).[38] The firm invests across public and private markets, particularly focusing on artificial intelligence, public safety technologies, and defense-related sectors.[39][40][41]
Politics
Fundraising
Broidy became interested in politics after the 9/11 attacks. He joined the Republican Jewish Coalition[42] and ultimately became a member of its board of directors. Between 2002 and 2004 he donated more than $300,000 to the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign.[43] From 2004 to 2006 he raised campaign funds for numerous Republican candidates. In October 2006, he hosted a fundraiser for Bush, where $1 million was raised.[44] Later that year, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appointed Broidy to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, the Terrorism Task Force, and the New Technology Task Force.[10][14][15]
Broidy led Republican fundraising efforts from 2005 to 2008 as finance chairman for the Republican National Committee (RNC), including during the 2008 elections. In the 2016 elections, he was a top fundraiser for Trump, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio.[45] From April 2017 until April 13, 2018, he was a deputy finance chairman of the RNC.[46] Bruce Bialosky of the Republican Jewish Coalition said, "A lot of people talked a big game, but when he said he could raise big money, he actually did."[2]
In 2016, Broidy served as a vice chairman of the Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee of the Donald Trump campaign and the RNC.[47] In addition, he served as a vice-chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.[48] In April 2017, Broidy was named one of three national deputy finance chairmen of the RNC.[49][50]
Following these allegations, Broidy resigned as deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).[46][51] To ensure that Bechard would not disclose the relationship, the $1.6 million payments beginning in 2017 to McDougal, which was arranged by Michael Cohen and came from accounts that Cohen had established to receive very large sums from Viktor Vekselberg associated firms in the Renova Group and others.[51][52][53] Both Vekselberg, who is very close to Vladimir Putin, and his Renova Group fell under United States sanctions on April 6, 2018, which froze up to $2 billion worth of Vekselberg's assets ($2,564,272,462 adjusted for inflation).[54][55]
On April 13, 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Broidy had a sexual relationship with Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard, resulting in a pregnancy in late 2017.[56][57] The model later had an abortion. Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen negotiated for Broidy to pay $1.6 million for the woman's silence. The settlement was falsely characterized at the time as a personal injury settlement.[58][46] In response to the Journal article, Broidy issued a statement acknowledging that he had had a "consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate", that Cohen had contacted him after being approached by the woman's attorney, Keith M. Davidson, and that Broidy had then hired Cohen to work out a non-disclosure agreement.[59] Broidy resigned his post at the RNC the same day the article appeared.[60] A few days later Cohen confirmed in court that Broidy was one of the three clients he had given legal advice to in the previous year.[61] Some columnists have since speculated that Donald Trump was really the person who had the affair with Bechard, with Broidy agreeing to provide cover for Trump.[62][63][64] Broidy's lawyer, Chris Clark, stated that Broidy will withhold forthcoming payments to Bechard due to an alleged breach of the non-disclosure agreement on her part.[65] On July 6, 2018, Bechard filed a lawsuit against Broidy and the attorney Michael Avenatti, in relation to the cessation of the settlement payments.[66][67][68] Bechard has alleged in a complaint that Broidy was physically, sexually, and emotionally abusive of her.[69][70] Broidy has denied the allegations.[70] On September 7, 2018, California Superior Court Judge Elizabeth White granted Broidy's request to strike allegations from the case going forward that were not relevant to the breach-of-contract dispute.[71]
In November 2018, The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors accused Broidy of involvement in a scheme to launder millions of dollars into the United States to help Jho Low end a Justice Department investigation into the embezzlement of billions of dollars from 1MDB.[72]
In 2019, Broidy filed lawsuits accusing a former CIA officer, Kevin Chalker, and three lobbyists of aiding Qatar in hacking and distributing his communications to damage his reputation. Broidy alleged that Chalker's firm, Global Risk Advisors, carried out the hack for Qatar, but Chalker, whose company was contracted for 2022 FIFA World Cup security, denied involvement. A separate lawsuit targeted lobbyists Nick Muzin, Joey Allaham, and Gregory Howard, claiming they disseminated the hacked information to undermine Broidy's political influence. All denied involvement.[73] In 2023, Broidy withdrew claims against Allaham, who admitted knowledge of the hack but denied participation. By April 2024, Broidy dropped both lawsuits.[73]
Beginning in March 2018, Broidy was implicated in a criminal investigation launched by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine for Broidy's June 12, 2014, deal to provide political support for VTB Bank and Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU), which acts as a financial advisor to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.[74][75] Broidy was to receive five payments of $2.5 million each through the British Virgin Islands firm with a Dubai address, Quillas Equities SA, which has Yuri Soloviev as a large shareholder according to the Panama Papers. Yuri Soloviev is a member of the management board for VTB and is the first deputy president and chairman of its management board.[74][76] Yuri Soloviev's Quillas Equities has accounts in the Swiss Pictet Bank through which money transfers often occur to the VTB-owned bank in Cyprus, RCB Cyprus.[77] In early 2014, VTB fell under numerous international sanctions due to Russia attacking Ukraine.[77]
FARA charges
In 2020, Broidy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for failing to disclose that he was acting as an agent for Malaysian and Chinese interests. Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman, had paid Broidy $9 million to lobby the US government to withdraw its investigation into the 1MDB scandal and to have the activist Guo Wengui deported to China.[78][79][80] He did not achieve either objective.[81][82] As part of a plea deal, Broidy agreed to pay $6.6 million and assist the government with further investigations.[78][79] President Trump pardoned Broidy the following year.[81][83] In April 2023, Broidy testified about his illegal lobbying at the trial of Prakazrel “Pras” Michél, an associate of Low.[81]
Lobbying
Broidy sought to leverage his connections for another case, Guo Wengui's extradition.[84]
In August 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Broidy was hired by Sun Lijun, a fugitive billionaire and the former deputy head of China's Ministry of Public Security, to lobby the Trump administration to extradite Guo Wengui.[85] Guo has become an ally of former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon.[86]
According to Bloomberg, the group convened with Chinese Vice Minister Sun Lijun but failed to secure meetings with U.S. officials. Consequently, Broidy approached casino tycoon Steve Wynn for assistance due to his close ties with President Trump. According to Broidy's testimony, during a boat trip, Wynn contacted Trump via speakerphone to inquire about Guo's extradition status. Broidy testified that he heard Trump affirming the ongoing process.[84]
Boards of directors
In 2006, President Bush appointed Broidy to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.[15][87]
Broidy served on the board of governors and the endowment committee of Hebrew Union College and the board of trustees of the Hillel Foundation, as well as the Center for Investment Studies at the Marshall School of Business at his alma mater, the University of Southern California.[10] He served on the board of governors of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the board of trustees of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.[11][14] The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States gave Broidy the 2008 Raoul Wallenberg Award for his Jewish philanthropy.[18]
After multiple scandals and criminal charges, Broidy was forced to resign from several of these boards and political appointments.[46][60]
In November 2025, Broidy announced the acquisition of an original whiteprint of the crematoria designed for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp for $1.5 million. The purchase was described as a commemorative act honoring approximately 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust. Proceeds from the acquisition were designated to support the development of a "global early childhood curriculum promoting empathy, altruism and anti-extremism".[88] Broidy stated that the artifact would be exhibited at institutions dedicated to Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism prior to its ultimate donation to a public institution.[89]
Films
Broidy was the executive producer of the independent films Sugar and Snake & Mongoose, both released in 2013.[90]
Personal life
Broidy is married to Robin Rosenzweig, a former senior executive of 20th Century Studios,[91] with whom he has three children.[14] They lived in Holmby Hills until moving to Bel Air in 2005. They moved to Beverly Hills in 2012.[2]
