J. Ezra Merkin
| Ezra Merkin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jacob Ezra Merkin April 19, 1953 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | The Rabbi |
| Alma mater |
Columbia University Harvard University |
| Board member of | Columbia College |
Jacob Ezra Merkin (born April 19, 1953) is an American investor, hedge fund manager and philanthropist. He had been a fund manager and capital raiser until 2008 when one of the funds in Gabriel Capital LP, his $5 billion group of hedge funds became insolvent because a large portion of its assets was invested with the convicted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff. The fallout from his investment with Madoff has been extensive. He navigated a series of lawsuits without a finding of fraud or knowledge of the scheme, but agreed to repay any fees earned from the investment in Madoff historically. He had to resign a series of positions including his role as Non-executive Chairman of GMAC.
He is the son of prominent businessman Hermann Merkin and Ursula Merkin (née Ursula Sara Breuer), both German-born Orthodox Jews who fled Germany prior to World War II to escape Nazism. Merkin's sister is Daphne Merkin, a writer. He and his wife, Lauren, have four children.
On May 20, 2009, he resigned as President of Fifth Avenue Synagogue, which was founded by his father in 1959. Members include some of his largest Madoff-related investors, losing in total, more than $1 billion.
Merkin attended Ramaz, an Upper East Side Modern Orthodox prep school, Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh and Yeshivat Har Etzion yeshivas in Israel, then Columbia University and Harvard Law School.
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