Steven Witkoff | |
---|---|
United States Special Envoy for Middle East | |
Designate | |
Assuming office January 20, 2025 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Position established |
Personal details | |
Born | Steven Charles Witkoff March 15,1957 New York City,U.S. |
Spouse | Lauren Rappoport |
Children | 3 |
Education | Hofstra University (BA,JD) |
Steven Charles Witkoff (born March 15,1957) [1] is an American real estate investor,landlord,and founder of the Witkoff Group. In 2024,he was appointed as Special Envoy to the Middle East by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Witkoff was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx and raised in Baldwin Harbor,New York [2] and Old Westbury,New York, [3] the son of Martin and Lois Witkoff. His father was a manufacturer of ladies' coats in New York City. [1] [4] He earned a J.D. from Hofstra University. After school he worked for the real estate law firm Dreyer &Traub,where one of his clients was Donald Trump. [2]
In 1985,he partnered with fellow Dreyer &Traub attorney Laurence Gluck and founded Stellar Management (the name Stellar is derived from Steve and Larry) and purchased cheap buildings in Washington Heights,Manhattan. [2] [5] He accumulated a small portfolio of buildings and in 1995,he expanded into lower Manhattan,buying several cheap office buildings. [2] In 1996,he secured financing from Credit Suisse First Boston for the purchase of 33 Maiden Lane,a 27-story tower designed by Philip Johnson. A close relationship with Credit Suisse First Boston soon developed and Witkoff purchased additional properties—typically using very little of his own money—including the landmark News Building. [2]
In 1998,he and partner Rubin Schron purchased the Woolworth Building for $137.5 million, [1] and he expanded his portfolio to include real estate purchases in Chicago,Dallas and Philadelphia. In 1998,the planned IPO of his company was canceled due to the collapse of the real estate market,and Witkoff and Gluck dissolved their partnership,with Gluck taking the residential properties and Witkoff the office buildings. Witkoff founded the Witkoff Group and expanded into residential construction and rehab. [2]
In April 2019,Witkoff announced that the Drew's opening would be pushed back to the second quarter of 2022 to allow more certainty about his construction project. The property was previously scheduled to open in late 2020. [6] which planned to open it as The Drew Las Vegas in 2022. However,construction stopped in March 2020,due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada. In February 2021,Soffer bought back the project through his company Fontainebleau Development,with Koch Real Estate Investments as a partner. Soffer reinstated the original name of the project,with construction resuming in November 2021. The project was developed at a cost of $3.7 billion,making it the second most-expensive resort in Las Vegas. The Fontainebleau opened on December 13,2023,and includes a 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m2;4.0 acres) casino and 3,644 hotel rooms.[ citation needed ]
In July 2024,Witkoff gave a speech on night four of the Republican National Convention. In his speech,he spoke about his close friendship with former U.S. President Donald Trump. [7]
On September 15,2024,Witkoff was playing golf with Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach,Florida,when a suspected assassination on Trump was attempted. Secret Service officers fired at the gunman,who fled the scene in a vehicle and was later apprehended in Martin County,Florida. [8]
On November 12,2024,President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had selected Witkoff to be his Special Envoy to the Middle East. [9] [10] Witkoff was chosen to be co-chair of the inaugural committee for Trump's upcoming second presidency,along with former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler.
Witkoff lives on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. [1] In 1987,he married Lauren Rappoport. [4] They have three sons. [1] In 2011,their 22-year-old son Andrew died of an OxyContin overdose at the now-closed Sunset Plaza Drive sober living facility in California. [11]
George H. Ross is a former executive vice president and senior counsel of the Trump Organization. He is perhaps best known as one of Donald Trump's two advisors on the NBC reality television program The Apprentice, along with Carolyn Kepcher. On the program,Ross monitored the progress of the contestants and assisted Trump in determining who should be "fired".
The Trump Organization is an American privately owned conglomerate owned by Donald Trump. It serves as the holding company for all of Trump's business ventures and investments,with around 250 of its affiliates and subsidiaries using the Trump name. Donald Trump joined the organization in 1968,began leading it in 1971,renamed it around 1973,and handed off its leadership to his children in 2017 after he won the 2016 United States presidential election.
Fontainebleau Resorts,LLC, is a resort-hotel company started in Florida by South Florida real estate developers Turnberry Associates and the Plant family in 2005,after their purchase of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. The two families each hold a 50% stake in the company. The company is based in Enterprise,Nevada.
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach,also known as the Fontainebleau Hotel,is a hotel in Miami Beach,Florida. Designed by Morris Lapidus,the luxury hotel opened in 1954. In 2007,the Fontainebleau Hotel was ranked ninety-third in the American Institute of Architects list of "America's Favorite Architecture". On April 18,2012,the AIA's Florida Chapter ranked the Fontainebleau first on its list of "Florida Architecture:100 Years. 100 Places".
88 Morgan Street,formerly known as "Trump Plaza",is the first of two apartment complex buildings to be built in Jersey City,New Jersey. Trump Plaza Residences is 532 ft tall (162 m) and has 55 floors,and is the 7th tallest residential building in New Jersey. In 2020,the Trump name was removed from the properties and has been renamed the 88 Morgan Street Condominiums.
The Fontainebleau Las Vegas is a resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester,Nevada. It is owned and operated by Fontainebleau Development and is a sister property to Fontainebleau Miami Beach,and sits on the 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Algiers Hotel. Ownership and development has changed several times since the project was announced in May 2005. It was originally proposed by developer Fontainebleau Resorts,owned by Jeff Soffer.
Turnberry Associates is a real estate development and management company in the United States. The company has developed over $10 billion worth of properties during the course of its history. Current holdings in its portfolio include the Aventura Mall,the JW Marriott Nashville Marriott,and SoLéMia. Jackie Soffer is chairman and chief executive officer. The company was founded in 1967 by Donald Soffer.
Trump National Golf Club is a private golf club located on Lamington Road in Bedminster,New Jersey. Approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of New York City in Somerset County,it is owned and operated by The Trump Organization.
Arthur George Cohen was an American businessman and real estate developer in New York City.
Rubin "Rubie" Schron is a New York City real estate investor,philanthropist,and the founder of Cammeby's International Group. In 2013,Schron made an unsuccessful offer to buy the Empire State Building for $2 billion. In 2003,an investment group led by Schron paid $705.6 million for a portfolio of about 6,000 outer-borough apartments from Donald Trump. Schron,who practices Orthodox Judaism,has eight children and 50 grandchildren. He and his family reside in Brooklyn.
Steven Roth is an American real estate investor,the founder and chairman of Vornado Realty Trust,the largest commercial landlord in New York City. He is also co-founder and managing general partner of Interstate Properties,and chairman and chief executive officer of Alexander's.
The Park Lane Hotel is a luxury hotel at 36 Central Park South,between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown Manhattan,New York City. Constructed in 1971,the hotel was designed by Emery Roth &Sons for real estate developer Harry Helmsley. The hotel operates under the ownership of Steve Witkoff's real estate investment firm,the Witkoff Group. A supertall skyscraper has been planned for the site,though that has been placed on hold.
Laurence Gluck was an American businessman,investor,and lawyer. He was based in New York who was the founder of the real estate company Stellar Management.
Donald Soffer is an American businessman,investor,and philanthropist. He is a real estate developer who developed Florida swampland into what was to become the city of Aventura,Florida.
The Ivana Las Vegas was a proposed 73-floor,923-foot condominium high-rise,named after Ivana Trump. The project was initially announced in August 2004,as The Summit,and was to be constructed on the 2.17-acre site of the closed Holy Cow Casino and Brewery,located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas,Nevada. Trump became involved with the project in June 2005,when it was renamed.
Before running for office in 2015,President-elect Donald Trump pursued a career as a businessman,with a focus on renovating skyscrapers,hotels,casinos,and golf courses. His extravagant lifestyle,outspoken manner,and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have made him a well-known public figure in American life for nearly half a century.
Donald Trump grew up in Jamaica Estates,an affluent neighborhood in Queens,New York City. In 1971,Trump moved into a studio in Manhattan. From 1983 until 2019,Trump's primary residence was the three-level penthouse on the top floors of Trump Tower;in 2019,he declared Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach,Florida,to be his primary residence. During his presidency from January 20,2017,until January 20,2021,Trump resided at the White House in Washington,D.C..
The Trumps:Three Generations That Built an Empire is a 2000 biographical book written by Gwenda Blair,an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism,about three generations of the Trump family,starting with Friedrich Trump (1869–1918) who immigrated to the United States in 1885 from Kingdom of Bavaria,then Fred Trump (1905–1999),and finally Donald Trump. It was first published by Simon &Schuster in 2000 and reprinted in 2015 with a new title,The Trumps:Three Generations of Builders and a President and a new preface.
The net worth of President-elect Donald Trump is not publicly known. For decades,Forbes has assessed his wealth,currently estimating it at $5.5 billion as of mid-November 2024. Meanwhile,Bloomberg estimates his wealth at $6.32 billion as of the same date,although Trump himself claims a much higher net worth. He received gifts,loans,and inheritance from his father,who was a real-estate developer and businessman. Donald Trump's primary business has been real estate ventures,including hotels,casinos,and golf courses. He also made money from Trump-branded products including neckties,steaks,and urine tests. Money received through political fundraisers is used to pay for guest stays at properties owned by the Trump Organization and to pay his and his allies' lawyers.