Joseph Safina

Last updated
Joseph Safina
Safina Racing.jpg
BornDecember 8, 1967
Brooklyn, New York, United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Racing driver, businessman, author
Years active1987–present
Notable work24 Hours of Daytona, Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series, IMSA GT, 12 Hours of Sebring

Joseph Safina (born December 8, 1967) [1] is an American race car driver and businessman. He began his racing career in 1997 [2] and he has since competed prestigious races such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Dubai 24 Hour. [3] Notable achievements include being the on the VICI Racing team as they were the first to race a Lamborghini GTR at the 12 Hours of Sebring, [4] as well as driving the Florida Marlins sponsored Porsche in the 2008 IMSA SportsCar Championship. [5]

Contents

Early life

Safina was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 8, 1967, where at the age of 17 he founded a telecommunications company. [6] This hard work carried over into investment banking, a career he started in 1988 [7] allowing him to become the youngest person in history to become approved by the SEC. [8]

Career

Safina began his investment banking career in 1988 by joining Gruntal & Co. where he was later named Senior Vice President. [7] After leaving Gruntal & Co. in 1993 he founded Nichols, Safina, Lerner & Co. Inc. (NSL), where he served as CEO. [9] Under his leadership, NSL grew into a 200 employee multi-location business that was involved in around a billion dollars in financing. [10] His work with NSL was featured in R.J. Shook's book The Winner's Circle II. [11] In 1997, he sold his interests in the company and became the CEO of Safina Asset Management now Safina Capital, a private equity investment firm. Most notably involved in bringing Financial Carrier Services (FCS) into the Inc 5000 [12] where Joseph worked as a founding partner of FCS with Derek Skea. [13] Joseph was also notably involved in the founding of Loud Records helping the company to sell stock to Universal Music Group. [14] [15] He later became Vice Chairman of Trimedia Entertainment Group Inc., [16] and a major investor in Secured Health and Life. [17] In 2013, he sold Secured Health and Life to Health Insurance Innovations. [17] He is currently involved as a writer for Forbes Financial Council [7] and is an author, having written three books. [18]

Racing career

Joseph began racing cars professionally in 1997, first racing a 5.8L V8 Ford Mustang Cobra R in the IMSA Speedvision Cup. [19] He has raced for 6 different manufacturers, those being Porsche, BMW, Saleen, Ferrari, Ford, and Lola. [20] [21] [2] Joseph has had an illustrious racing career, with many achievements, such as being the first to race a Lamborghini GTR at the 12 Hours of Sebring. [4] Racing the Miami Marlins sponsored GT3 in 2008. [22] Going top-ten three years in a row at the 24 Hours of Daytona. [22] But most notably Joseph was able to get a win in his Ferrari 360 Challenge in 2001 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. [21]

Josephs love for cars extends beyond the track. He owns a body shop called Safina Performance where he and his team work on many high end cars, such as a 2011 Ford F-450 4x4 King Ranch that was modified into an all black fully loaded beast. [23] Joseph also worked with prominent auto shop Mobsteel to create a resto-modded 1964 Lincoln Continental, with a 427ci CobraJet V8, forged 22-inch alloy wheels, 12inch disk brakes, and a beautiful custom interior and exterior. [24]

Books

Safina has written three books; Driven, Amici Del Lago, and Deal Mode and is a Forbes contributor. [25] [26]

References

  1. "Joseph Safina: Racedriver biography - career and success". www.speedsport-magazine.com.
  2. 1 2 "Driver: Joe Safina | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  3. "Unprecedented Nine Aston Martins for 24 Hours of Dubai: Anamera". www.finecars.cc. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  4. 1 2 "VICI Racing enters Lamborghini for Sebring". Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  5. "Driven To Success - 2011 Ford F-450 4x4 King Ranch". Motor Trend .
  6. "Guns, Guts, and Glory: How Joseph Safina's Life is a Hollywood Action Movie". StreetInsider.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  7. 1 2 3 "Joseph Safina | CEO - Safina Asset Management". Forbes Finance Council. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  8. Staff, Authority Magazine Editorial (2025-02-07). "Author & Race Car Driver Joseph Safina: They Told Me It Was Impossible And I Did It Anyway". Authority Magazine. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  9. "SG Blocks Announces Appointments to Board of Directors | SGBX Stock News". Stocktitan. 9 June 2021.
  10. "Guns, Guts, and Glory". StreetInsider.
  11. Harris, William (9 June 2021). "SG Blocks Appoints Joseph Safina and David Villarreal to Board of Directors". Citybiz.
  12. "INC. Company Profile". August 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. "Financial Carrier Services Appears on the Inc. 5000". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  14. "Tha Crow Wins Loud.com Competition". Billboard . Vol. 120, no. 24. Nielsen Business Media. 2008-06-14. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  15. "Universal Music Group invests in rap competition site". The Register .
  16. "Bloomberg TriMedia Entertainment Group Inc". Bloomberg. August 16, 2002.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. 1 2 "Secured Health & Life Insurances - Ownership and Business Overview". mergr.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  18. "Joseph Safina". Audible. 2025-08-24. Retrieved 2025-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. "Driver: Joe Safina | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  20. "Joseph Safina (USA) - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  21. 1 2 "Homestead-Miami: Justin Bell, Joseph Safina preview". Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
  22. 1 2 "Safina Makes Marlin Sponsorship Work" . Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  23. "Driven To Success | 2011 Ford F-450 4x4 King Ranch". MotorTrend. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
  24. Pankew, Dave. "Mob Mentality: Joseph Safina's 1964 Lincoln Continental". PASMAG - Performance Auto & Sound 20th Anniversary!. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
  25. "Review of Amici Del Lago - reviewer Hager Salem". OnlineBookClub.org. 7 May 2024.
  26. "Time Is Right for Airbnb, DoorDash IPOs, Asset Manager Says". TheStreet .