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Steve Witkoff

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Steven Witkoff
Witkoff in 2018
United States Special Envoy for Middle East
Designate
Assuming office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born
Steven Charles Witkoff

(1957-03-15) March 15, 1957 (age 67)
New York City, U.S.
SpouseLauren Rappoport
Children3
Education

Steven Charles Witkoff (born March 15, 1957)[1] is an American attorney, real estate investor and developer, philanthropist, and founder of the Witkoff Group.[2] In 2024, he was appointed as Special Envoy to the Middle East by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Early life

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Witkoff is Jewish, was born in the Bronx in New York City, and was raised in Baldwin Harbor, New York and Old Westbury, New York.[3][4][5] He is the son of Martin and Lois Witkoff.[6] His father was a manufacturer of ladies' coats in New York City.[1][6]

He earned a B.A. in 1980 from Hofstra University. Witkoff then graduated with a J.D. in 1983 from Hofstra Law School.[7]

Career

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Witkoff began his career as a real estate lawyer, and became a billionaire real estate investor and developer.[8][9]

Early years

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After graduating from law school in 1983, Witkoff worked for the real estate law firm Dreyer & Traub, where one of his clients was Donald Trump.[3] They became friends at a New York City deli after they had worked together on a business deal.[2]

Witkoff subsequently practiced real estate law at the law firm Rosenman & Colin, through 1986.[10][11]

In 1985, he partnered with fellow Dreyer & Traub attorney Laurence Gluck, and in 1996 co-founded Stellar Management (the name Stellar is derived from Steve and Larry) and purchased inexpensive buildings in Washington Heights, Manhattan.[11][3][12] He accumulated a small portfolio of buildings and in 1995, he expanded into lower Manhattan, buying several inexpensive office buildings.[3] 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 and John Burgee. 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 Daily News Building in the East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan, designed by architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells.[3]

In 1997, Witkoff founded and became chairman and CEO of the Witkoff Group, and expanded into residential construction and rehab.[11][3] In 1998, he and partner Rubin Schron purchased the Woolworth Building in Tribeca for $137.5 million,[1] and he expanded his portfolio to include real estate purchases in Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia. In 1998, a 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.[3]

In 2013, Witkoff and Harry Macklowe purchased the Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South in Manhattan for $660 million.[13] That year, Witkoff and Fisher Brothers also purchased a parcel of land in Tribeca in Manhattan for $223 million on which they built a 792-foot high residential tower, 111 Murray Street.[14]

2015–present

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In the first presidency of Donald Trump, Witkoff was a member of the Great American Economic Revival Industry Group, which was created by Trump to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[15][16]

The Witkoff Group was involved in financing the premier resort Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The property was initially scheduled to open in late 2020,[17] as The Drew Las Vegas in 2022. 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. 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 Las Vegas opened on December 13, 2023, and includes a 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m2; 4.0 acres) casino and 3,644 hotel rooms.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20]

On November 12, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had selected Witkoff to be his Special Envoy to the Middle East.[21][22] 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.[23]

Personal life

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Witkoff lives on the Upper East Side in Manhattan.[1] In 1987, he married Lauren Jill Rappoport, who was then an associate at the Manhattan law firm of Botein, Hays & Sklar.[6] 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.[24] Their son Zach is a co-founder of World Liberty Financial, a crypto company, which has been marketed as a portal for traders to invest in cryptocurrencies, and use those cryptocurrency assets for both borrowing and lending.[2][25] Their son Alexander earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is the CEO of the Witkoff Group.[26]

Witkoff has served on the Executive Committee for the Real Estate Board of New York, as a Trustee for the Intrepid Foundation, and on the Board of Trustees of Hofstra University (since 2015). [11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Piore, Adam (December 1, 2012). "The modest mogul - Investor Ruby Schron could quietly become the city's next billionaire landlord, despite eschewing glamour and a place in the spotlight". The Real Deal.
  2. ^ a b c Jacob Kornbluh (December 15, 2024). "Newborn grandson of Trump’s Mideast envoy named after Trump," The Forward.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Leonard, Devin (December 6, 1999). "Steve Witkoff's Nine Lives: Tough Guys Don't Fold-They Crawl Back From the Abyss". The New York Observer.
  4. ^ "Steve Witkoff," LegiStorm.com.
  5. ^ Elkies, Lauren. "Steve Witkoff". The Real Deal. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Lauren and Susan Rappoport to Wed". The New York Times. January 4, 1987.
  7. ^ "Steven Witkoff, BA, ’80; JD, ’83," Hofstra.edu.
  8. ^ Theodore Schleifer (December 3, 2024). "Trump Donors Who Give at Least $1 Million or Raise $2 Million Get Inaugural Access," The New York Times.
  9. ^ June Kim, Karen Yourish and Jasmine C. Lee (December 26, 2024). "Tracking Trump’s Cabinet and Staff Nominations," The New York Times.
  10. ^ Phil Hall (November 12, 2024). "Trump Names Real Estate Developer Steve Witkoff as Special Middle East Envoy," WRE News.
  11. ^ a b c d "Ashner/Witkoff Stockholder Group Comments On New York REIT's Termination Of JBG Combination," WW Investors LLC, August 3, 2016.
  12. ^ Ghigliotty, Damian (May 1, 2013). "With 150 Charles Street and Now 10 Madison Square West, Steve Witkoff May Be the King of Condo Financing". Commercial Observer. Observer Media.
  13. ^ Matt A.V. Chaban (April 6, 2015). "A Dental Hub With Central Park Views May Go on the Market," The New York Times.
  14. ^ Michelle Higgins (June 19, 2015). "TriBeCa Tower Inspired by a Glass Vase," The New York Times.
  15. ^ Karen Yourish, Lazaro Gamio, and Ashley Wu (December 3, 2024). "Project 2025, Mar-a-Lago and Fox News: What Connects Trump’s New Staff Picks," The New York Times.
  16. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021 – via National Archives.
  17. ^ "Vegas Strip's $3.1 Billion Resort Postponed More Than a Year". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg News. April 16, 2019.
  18. ^ "Rooms & Suites". Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  19. ^ Hensley, J. J. "Real estate baron Steven Witkoff uses RNC speech to humanize Trump, recall son who OD'd". USA Today. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  20. ^ "Trump was the subject of an apparent assassination attempt at his Florida golf club, the FBI says". apnews.com. Associated Press. September 15, 2024.
  21. ^ "Trump appoints Steven Witkoff as Special Envoy to the Middle East". Israel National News. November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  22. ^ "Trump picks ex-DNI John Ratfcliffe to lead CIA, ex-Arkansas Gov. Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel". Prince George Citizen. November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  23. ^ Zolan Kanno-Youngs (November 11, 2024). "The Trump Insiders Who Have Outsize Influence as He Chooses His Cabinet," The New York Times.
  24. ^ Baum, Gary (August 17, 2013). "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Hits L.A. Rehab Center Following THR Investigation". The Hollywood Reporter.
  25. ^ Eric Lipton, Ben Protess, and David Yaffe-Bellany (December 5, 2024). "Trump Organization Plans an Ethics Policy Without Banning Foreign Deals," The New York Times.
  26. ^ John Otis (February 16, 2024). "A Cowboy and a Leopard Walked Into a Bar," The New York Times.
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