Daniel Och
Miami
Family office investor; Philanthropy
Overview
Daniel Och was the longtime CEO and chairman of the hedge-fund firm Och-Ziff Capital Management Group (now Sculptor Capital Management) and during his tenure is believed to have been one of the world’s largest hedge-fund managers, based on assets under his control. He founded the firm in 1994, and the following two-and-a-half decades have not been without their share of scandal. In 2008, Och’s firm paid Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe $100 million for platinum-mining rights, prompting protesters gathered outside his apartment building on Central Park to call him the “King of Wall Street Sleaze.” The firm was eventually hit with a $412 million fine.
Och and his wife, Jane, have also started a foundation providing grants for Jewish causes, hospitals, and the Robin Hood Foundation. According to Forbes, his foundation has received at least $350 million. He has since stepped down as chairman of his hedge fund, the largest publicly traded firm of its kind, and no longer has a role. Och, who collects modern and contemporary art, is currently a member of the board at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Besides finance and philanthropy, Och has said his personal interests are “skiing and history.” In 2019, Och listed his penthouse at Manhattan condominium 15 Central Park West for $57.5 million. Several months later, he joined high-profile owners in the Upper West Side in an exodus for the newly built nearby tower 220 Central Park South, where he bought an apartment for $95 million, making it one of the most expensive units of its kind in Manhattan. According to Mansion Global, Och purchased the Central Park West apartment for almost $22 million in 2008.