Zalman Chaim Bernstein (1926-1999; זלמן חיים ברנשטיין),[1] originally known in his businesses as Sanford Bernstein, was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.[2][3][4]
Zalman Chaim Bernstein | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sanford Bernstein 1926 |
| Died | 1999 (age 72) |
| Education | B.S. New York University M.S. Harvard Business School |
| Occupation | Investor |
| Known for | Co-founder of Sanford C. Bernstein Company |
Biography
Zalman Bernstein was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York in 1926.[5][4] At the age of eighteen, he joined the United States Navy and fought in the Second World War.[4] He then received a bachelor's degree in economics from New York University, followed by a master's degree in economics from the Harvard Business School.[4][6]
He worked as an economic advisor for the Marshall Plan.[4] In 1967, he founded the investment management firm Sanford Bernstein.[3][4] When he first founded Sanford C. Bernstein, his brother Paul P. Bernstein was his sole partner.[7]
Personal life
Bernstein married three times[5] and had three children by his third wife, Mem Dryan Bernstein.[5][8][9] He died of lymphoma in 1999.[5]
In the 1980s, he became an Orthodox Jew and dropped his English name, Sanford, for his Hebrew one, Zalman.[3] He attended Lincoln Square Synagogue and became a friend of its rabbi, Shlomo Riskin. In 1989, he made aliyah (moved to Israel).[3] He also founded the Jewish organizations Avi Chai Foundation and Tikvah Fund.[4][6][10]