Ziff brothers
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment management |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Dirk Ziff, Robert Ziff, Daniel Ziff |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, private equity, hedge funds |
Dirk, Robert, and Daniel Ziff, collectively referred to as the Ziff brothers, are the sons of American publishing titan William Bernard Ziff Jr. and Barbara Ingrid Beitz. They came into their inheritance in 1994 and subsequently established Ziff Brothers Investments.
Education and personal life
Dirk Edward Ziff (born 1965), Robert D. Ziff (born 1967), and Daniel M. Ziff (born 1973) inherited the media empire created by their father, William Bernard Ziff Jr., who grew the publishing company Ziff Davis, known for magazines such as PC Magazine and Car and Driver. Their mother, Barbara Ingrid Beitz, has German roots; her parents were honored by Israel as "Righteous among the Nations" for their efforts in saving Jews during World War II.
Dirk completed his secondary education at New York's Trinity School in 1981, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University, and later obtained an MBA from Harvard University. He is married to Natasha Bacigalupo, a former reporter for Forbes magazine, and they live in North Palm Beach, Florida with their two children.
Robert pursued electrical and computer engineering at Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude. He then attended Cornell Law School, where he graduated at the top of his class and served as editor of the Cornell Law Review. After clerking for a federal appellate judge, he worked as vice president of strategic planning at Ziff Communications Company. Robert resides in Manhattan with his wife Michelle Angelic Locher, also a Cornell alumna, and their twin sons.
Daniel finished high school at Trinity School in 1989 and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University. In 2009, he married Leslie Ziff, who held board positions including with the American Ballet Theatre, before divorcing; he remarried Brianne Garcia Ziff in 2017. Daniel lives in New York City.
Fortune
The brothers inherited their wealth in 1994 following their father’s sale of 95% of Ziff Davis to Forstmann Little for $1.4 billion prior to retiring. Although William Ziff Jr. had planned to hand over the company to his sons, they showed little interest in running it. Instead, they launched Ziff Brothers Investments based in New York City, spreading their portfolio across stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, private equity, and hedge funds. They also provided initial funding to manager Daniel Och in exchange for a 10% stake in Och-Ziff Capital Management, which went public in 2007. These ventures greatly increased their fortune. By March 2018, Forbes valued each brother’s net worth at $4.8 billion.
In 2021, the Ziffs sold their Gemini estate located in Manalapan, Florida for $94 million; it was originally listed at $200 million back in 2015. The property was subsequently acquired by Jim Clark, who later sold it to Larry Ellison in 2022 for $173 million—setting a record as Florida’s highest-priced residential transaction at that time.
Philanthropy and political contributions
In 1998, Robert Ziff contributed $2 million to Harvard University’s men’s hockey program and endowed the Robert D. Ziff Professorship of Law at Cornell Law School in 2008. He also financially supported Republican lawmakers who advocated for gay marriage rights in 2011. In 2018, Dirk and Daniel Ziff jointly donated $2 million to Columbia University’s Center for Climate and Life research initiative.