Adam Milstein

Early life

Milstein was born in Haifa, Israel, the son of Eva (née Temkin), a homemaker, and Hillel Milshtein, a real estate developer. His mother immigrated to Israel from Mexico in 1949, at the age of 18; his father immigrated to Israel from Argentina when the State of Israel was founded in 1948, at the age of 19), and took part in Israel’s independence war as a combat sailor. The Milsteins were married in Haifa in 1950; the family moved from Haifa to Kiryat Yam and then to Kiryat Motzkin where Adam spent his early years.

In 1971, Milstein joined the Israeli Defense Forces for his mandatory service and served during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He then enrolled in the Technion, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business and economics in 1978. During his higher education years, he joined his father in expanding their real estate construction and development business.

In 1974, Milstein married Gila Elgrably in Haifa. In 1981, the family moved to the United States. In 1983, Milstein received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California. He then started working in commercial real estate as a sales agent.

Career

Milstein is a managing partner of Hager Pacific Properties, overseeing the firm’s financing, disposition and accounting. The firm specializes in acquiring, rehabilitating and repositioning industrial, retail, office and multi-family properties.

Tax Evasion Conviction

In 2009 he was convicted of two counts of felony tax evasion and sentenced to three months in prison.

Philanthropy

In 2000, Milstein and his wife Gila founded the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation (MFF). The organization sponsors education of students and young professionals to identify with their Jewish roots, connect with the State of Israel, ignite their Jewish pride, and provide them with facts and the knowledge to advocate for the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Milstein is a co-founder of the Israeli-American Council, the fastest-growing Jewish organization in America, and was recently named National Chairman of this group.

Milstein also sits on the boards of StandWithUs, Israel on Campus Coalition, Hasbara Fellowships, Jewish Funders Network, Birthright Israel, Stand By Me and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) National Council. Adam Milstein and his wife Gila are co-founders of Sifriyat Pijama B’America, which provides free monthly books in Hebrew to more than 70 Israeli-Jewish-American families in the United States.

In June 2015, Milstein joined with Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban to organize the inaugural Campus Maccabees summit. The event brought together more than 50 organizations to "harness the full might of the pro-Israel community to defeat hate groups spreading anti-Semitism and lies about the Jewish State on America’s college campuses."

Milstein strongly opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, and has written many opinion pieces regarding the movement’s threat to both Israel and Western nations. He recently launched a podcast featuring conversations with elected officials and policymakers, thinkers, artists, and activists who are at the forefront of important issues for the pro-Israel, Israeli-American, and Jewish-American communities.

In 2016, Adam Milstein was named one of “The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life,” and also one of the top 25 Twitter activists.

In 2014, it was alleged that Milstein provided campaign financing through the UCLA chapter of Hillel International to Avi Oved, a pro-Israel student who was nominated as University of California student regent. Milstein denied that he or his foundation ever directly contributed to Oved. The Regents approved Oved as the new student regent-designate in July 2014.

Personal life

Milstein and his wife Gila live in Encino, CA and have three daughters, two grandsons and one granddaughter.