Jeff Yass

Jeff Yass
Jeff Yass
Born	1956 (age 67–68)
Education	Binghamton University (BA); New York University
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Janine Coslett
Children	4

Last updated April 06, 2024

Jeffrey S. Yass (born 1956) is an American billionaire businessman. According to Forbes , Yass had a net worth of $28.5 billion in 2023.^[1] Yass is the richest man in Pennsylvania.

As of March 2024, he is the largest donor in the 2024 US election cycle, having donated $46 million to Republican groups and campaigns, primarily to rivals of Donald Trump.^[2] After Yass and Trump met in March 2024, Trump went from supporting a ban on TikTok to opposing a ban.^[2] At the same time, Yass's SIG bought a substantial share in Trump's company Truth Social, providing Trump with a massive influx of money at a time when he faced mountainous legal expenses.^[3]

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz , he is a major supporter of Israeli right-wing think tanks.^[4]

Early life

Yass grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in Queens, New York.^[5] He is the son of Gerald Yass, and his "childhood sweetheart" Sybil, who was at his bar mitzvah.^[6]^[7] Gerald has a sister, Carole.^[7] Gerald graduated with a BS from LIU Brooklyn in 1951, and worked as an accountant, rising to chairman of Datatab Inc. He later co-founded Philadelphia Trading, which became SIG.^[7] As of 2018, he still worked for SIG, as a senior executive and advisor.^[7]

Yass was educated at public schools in Queens.^[8] He earned a B.S. in mathematics and economics from Binghamton University.^[9]^[10] He pursued graduate studies in economics at New York University,^[10] but did not graduate.

Career

While at the State University of New York at Binghamton in the 1970s, Yass and five fellow students became friends and later co-founded Susquehanna International Group (SIG), the largest trader of liquid stocks in the US.^[6]^[11]

The billionaire trader Israel Englander sponsored Yass for a seat on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and SIG was initially run from an office at the Exchange.^[6] His father, Gerald Yass, also helped to found the company.^[6]

Prior to all this, Jeff Yass was a professional gambler.^[12]

Political activities

Yass became a member of the board of directors of the libertarian Cato Institute in 2002^[13]^[14] and now is a member of the executive advisory council.^[15] In 2015, Yass donated $2.3 million to a Super PAC supporting Rand Paul's presidential candidacy.^[16] In 2018 he donated $3.8 million to the Club for Growth, and $20.7 million in 2020.^[17]

Yass and his wife, Janine Coslett, are public supporters of school choice, with Coslett writing a 2017 opinion piece for The Washington Examiner in support of then-incoming Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos's views at school choice.^[18]

In November 2020, it was reported that Yass had donated $25.3 million, all to Republican candidates, and was one of the ten largest political donors in the US.^[19]

In March 2021, an investigation in Haaretz said that Jeff Yass and Arthur Dantchik were behind a large portion of the donations to the Kohelet Policy Forum in Israel.^[4]

In November 2021, he donated $5 million to the School Freedom Fund, a PAC that runs ads for Republican candidates running in the 2022 election cycle nationwide.^[20]

In June 2022 ProPublica claimed Yass has "avoided $1 billion in taxes" and is "pouring his money into campaigns to cut taxes and support election deniers".^[21]

In September 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Yass, an investor in TikTok's parent firm ByteDance, is a major donor to US politicians who have opposed restrictions on TikTok.^[22]

Recognition

In 2001, Yass appeared as one of 76 Revolutionary Minds in Philadelphia magazine.^[23]

As of 2023, he was the richest man in Pennsylvania, according to The Intercept .^[24]

Personal life

Yass is married to Janine Coslett.^[25]^[26] They have lived in Haverford in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, for some years.^[19] They have four children, two sons and two daughters.^[27]

In December 2001, following the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he announced a donation to the charitable fund established by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to assist the victims.^[28] He has supported Save the Children,^[29]^[30] "Spirit of Golf Foundation",^[31] People's Emergency Center Families First building,^[32] and the Franklin Institute's Franklin Family Funfest Committee.^[33]

Philanthropy

Jeff and Janine Yass have contributed to education reform, including the Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless (STOP) education, launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative aims to recognize and support innovative, non-traditional education models. In 2022, the Yass Prize awarded over $20 million, including a $1 million grand prize to the Arizona Autism Charter Schools for their individualized learning programs.^[34]^[35]

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