Stef Wertheimer (Hebrew: זאב סטף ורטהיימר, born 16 July 1926) is an Israeli billionaire industrialist, investor, philanthropist and former politician. He was a Member of the Knesset, and is known for founding industrial parks in Israel and neighboring countries. The Wertheimers are Israel’s richest family as of 2013.
Biography
Stef (Ze’ev) Wertheimer was born in Kippenheim, Germany to a Jewish family. His family fled to Mandatory Palestine in 1937 to escape Nazism.
He studied in the Tel-Nordau School in Tel Aviv but dropped out of school at age 16 and started working in a camera repair store. At the same time, he began studying optics with Professor Emanuel Goldberg, a researcher and inventor who contributed significantly to different aspects of imaging technology in the first half of the twentieth century.
In 1943, during World War II, Wertheimer joined the British Royal Air Force. Wertheimer served as an optical equipment technician. He was sent to Bahrain where he repaired optical equipment installed in Britain’s military aircraft.
In 1945 he joined the Palmach, where he served as a technical officer in the “German Unit” – a special guerilla force trained with British cooperation to participate in combat operations against the German army, should it reach Israel. In 1947, he joined the Haganah and worked in the development and improvement of cannons. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he served as a technical officer in the Yiftach Brigade.
After the war, Wertheimer started working at Rafael, only to be dismissed shortly thereafter because of his lack of formal education. Following the war, he and his wife briefly lived on kibbutz Yir’on, but left, as he did not agree with the socialist economic model adopted by the kibbutz movement.
Wertheimer is married with four children and lives in Tel Aviv. His granddaughter is the Israeli actress Maya Wertheimer. In 2018, Eitan Wertheimer purchased a house for his father, Stef, for 20 million ILS.
Stef Wertheimer is the Founder and Owner, ISCAR
- Israeli industrial titan Stef Wertheimer sold two companies in 2013 and 2014; he is now focused on creating peace between Israel and Palestine.
- He builds industrial parks, or “capitalist kibbutzes,” in disadvantaged and predominantly Arab regions of Israel in order to promote job creation.
- Net worth: $6.3 billion
- He sold his metal-cutting company ISCAR to Berkshire Hathaway in 2 stages: 80% for $4 billion in 2006, and the remainder for $2.05 billion in 2013.
- He also founded jet-engine blade maker Blades Technology and sold his 51% stake in 2014 to jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney for an undisclosed amount.
- His family has spent over $100 million to build six Arab workplaces around Israel.
