Leon Recanati

Early life and education

Recanati was born to a family of bankers, the son of Mathilda and Daniel Recanati. His grandfather, Leon Yehuda Recanati, a Greek Sephardic Jewish immigrant to British-controlled Palestine, founded the Palestine Discount Bank in Tel Aviv (later known as the Israel Discount Bank). His father, Daniel, served as CEO of the Israel Discount Bank and along with his uncle, Raphael, established the IDB Holding Corporation, a company in Israel with investments in industry, insurance, retail, communication and biotech. His uncle Raphael would later move to New York City and found the OSG-Overseas Shipping Group. After completing his military service, Recanati earned a B.A. in economics and an M.B.A. at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Career

In 1971, he worked for the Israel Discount Bank – which was founded by his grandfather – eventually being appointed the deputy CEO in 1979 with responsibility for all the branches and marketing. In 1986, he transferred to IDB Holdings, the investment side of the family business where he rotated through various chairmanships at Supersol, Delek and Clal, and later served as co-CEO and co-chairman of IDB.

In May 2003, the family sold IDB Holding to Nochi Dankner and divided its assets. With his share, Recanati established Glenrock, an investment company, which he ran with his wife Shula Recanati and Ziv Kop. It has three divisions: GlenRock America assists Israeli businesses in entering the American market and also serves as a conduit for American investors to invest in Israel (headed by Larry Graev); GlenRock Israel invests in local technology companies; and GlenRock Italy advises Israeli businesses in penetrating the Italian market and serves as a bridge for Italian investors interested in investing in Israel (headed by Rony Benatof).

In 2007, he purchased a 50.4% stake (73% total with two minority partners) in the Gmul Investment Company for NIS 600 million more than twice its market capitalization. Gmul was an investment holding company with stakes in real estate, hotels, investments, and automotive. It was founded in 1950 by Bank Hapoalim, the Histadrut labor federation and several pension funds then sold to the brothers Jules and Eddy Trump, who listed it on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and then later sold in October 2003 to Eyal Yona and Amnon Barzilay. Performance at Gmul quickly deteriorated. Recanati stated: "At this point I can say that buying control of Gmul was the worst deal I have ever made in my long career, and I have lost more than any other Gmul share or bond investor. Under the current circumstances, as of now, I cannot invest any more in Gmul, but I hope that we can all work together to find a solution and reach a fair, mutually agreed-upon arrangement." In October 2011, he sold half of his 50.4% investment in Gmul to Itzhak Gvilli for NIS 20 million. He resigned as chairman of Gmul in July 2012.

Philanthropy

The Recanati family is one of the biggest donors in Israel via The Recanati Family Foundation with an emphasis on health and education. Leon Recanati serves as vice chairman of the Israel Cancer Association. He has served as chairman of Tel Aviv University's Development Committee and he also is involved with the Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum.

Recanati established the Tapuah program in Israel which established 48 centers in disadvantaged areas and Bedouin, Druze and Arab villages where basic computer and Internet training is provided. Most of the companies in the IDB Group have contributed to the program.

Personal life

Recanati is married to Shula Recanati. Shula holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Tel Aviv University (Magna Cum laude), and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Education from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Cum laude). His daughter Dafna (Daphne) is married to billionaire American investor Thomas Kaplan.