Michael Recanati
American businessman and philanthropist (1957-2015)
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Michael Recanati (Hebrew: מיכאל רקנאטי; 1957–2015) was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Michael Recanati | |
|---|---|
מיכאל רקנאטי | |
| Born | June 21, 1957 |
| Died | July 12, 2015 (aged 58) |
| Occupations | Businessman, philanthropist |
| Partner | Tom Schalk[1] |
| Children | 1 |
| Father | Raphael Recanati |
| Relatives | Leon Yehuda Recanati (paternal grandfather) Leon Recanati (first cousin) Avraham Rakanti (Great uncle) |
Early life
Michael Recanati was born in 1957.[2] His father, Raphael Recanati was an Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist.[2][1] Recanati was educated at Ramaz School in Manhattan, New York City.[3]
Career
Recanati started his career at his family business, the Overseas Shipholding Group, in 1978.[2] He was forced to leave OSG in 1995 after a dispute about the company's investments in cruise ships.[2]
Recanati founded Orama, a venture capital firm based in New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1999.[4] It closed down in 2001.[5] In 2008, Recanati founded Really Cool Foods, an organic food company. It closed down in 2011.[6]
Recanati served as the chairman of 511 Equities.[7]
Philanthropy
Recanati endowed the Dina and Raphael Recanati Professorship in Immunology at the Harvard Medical School in honor of his parents in 1992. Dr Jerome Groopman is the current chair.[8] He also endowed the Recanati Family Professor of Science and professor of Microbiology and Medicine at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at New York University[9]
In 2002, Recanati and his partner Ira Statfeld made a $5 million donation to the then Hampton Day School,[10][11] taking control of the board of trustees and changing the name of the school to the Morriss Center in honor of Statfeld's father,[12] however the school merged with the Ross School in 2006.[13] In 2007, it was reported that Recanati and his partner had donated $30 million to the Child Study Center at New York University to establish an Asperger's Institute.[3]