- Sammy Ofer
Infobox Person
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name = Sammy Ofer
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birth_date = birth date and age|1922|2|22
birth_place =Romania
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other_names =
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occupation = businessman andshipping tycoon
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spouse =
children =Idan Ofer andEyal Ofer
nationality = flagicon|IsraelIsraeli Sammy Ofer (b.
February 22 ,1922 inRomania ), a member of the Ofer family, is a businessman,shipping tycoon and one of the wealthiest people inIsrael , although most of his time he spends abroad, and manages his businesses fromMonte Carlo inMonaco . The annual "Forbes " magazine's list of The World's Billionaires estimated in 2007 that Sammy Ofer's fortune together with his brother Yuli's fortune is estimated at 3.9 billion dollars, ranking him the 226nd in wealthiest people in the world. [ [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Sammy-Ofer-family_QK08.html #226 Sammy Ofer & family - Forbes.com ] ]In 1924 Ofer's family immigrated to the
British Mandate of Palestine . The family lived inHaifa , the principal port of British Palestine (and later of Israel). There his younger brother Jehuda (Juli) Ofer was born. After Ofer finished elementary school he started working as delivery boy for a shipping company.With the start of the
World War II he enlisted to the BritishRoyal Navy and during the1948 Arab-Israeli War he served in theIsraeli Sea Corps . After he finished his army service he became a shipping agent with the eastern conglomerate and by the year 1950 he had bought his first ship. Since then, he has expanded in the shipping business.Ofer's assets, which are partly in his exclusive ownership and partly owned together with his brother Juli, consist of one of the largest private shipping companies in the world, which includes the company ZIM, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Real estates, ownership in the company
Israel Corp. ,Israel Chemicals ,Oil Refineries Ltd (BAZAN) inHaifa ,Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd. ,Tower Semiconductor Ltd. and more. Ofer also possesses an art collection which is among the most expensive in the world. The factories in the ownership of the Ofer brothers are responsible for about 60% of the industrial air pollution in Israel. [ [http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3504014,00.html Ynet המפעלים המזהמים ביותר בישראל - ירוק ] ]Ofer is reputed as one of the biggest 10 art collectors in the world. For example, in 2006 he purchased a
Vincent van Gogh painting in exchange for 40.3 million dollars. Additionally he also possesses an honorable collection of paintings byMarc Chagall . On27 March 2008 , it was announced that he is donating £20 million to London'sNational Maritime Museum atGreenwich , as part of a £35 million programme of expansion – this is believed to be the largest single donation ever to a British cultural institution.Ofer has two sons, Eyal and Idan, who manage different branches of the family businesses.
He recently donated £3.3 million to help complete the restoration of the
Cutty Sark by 2010.ee also
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Ofer Brothers Group References
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