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S. Daniel Abraham

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S. Daniel Abraham
Born
Sim Daniel Abraham

(1924-08-15) August 15, 1924 (age 100)
Long Beach, New York, US
Occupation(s)Businessman, philanthropist
Known forFounder of SlimFast
SpouseEstanne Weiner (divorced)
Children6

Sim Daniel Abraham (born August 15, 1924) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Thompson Medical, whose main product is SlimFast, a diet program. He has endowed the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and he supports Jewish causes in Florida and Israel.

As of October 2018, he had a net worth of $2.1 billion.[1]

Early life

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Abraham was born on August 15, 1924,[2] the son of Stella K. and Dr. Samuel Abraham.[3] He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home in Long Beach, New York.[4][5] His father was a Zionist and follower of Ze'ev Jabotinsky; and Abraham as a teen printed his own newsletter warning Americans about the danger from the Nazis.[5] During World War II, Abraham served in the United States Army in Europe.[5] In 1970, he moved to Israel with his wife and children where he lived through the 1973 Yom Kippur War and returned to the United States in 1978.[5]

Career

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Abraham founded Thompson Medical, which introduced the SlimFast line of diet products in the late 1970s.[6] Abraham made Thompson Medical private in 1988; Unilever acquired Slim-Fast for $2.3 billion in 2000.[7][8] As of October 2016, he had an estimated wealth of US$2.1 billion.[1]

Abraham is the author of the book Peace Is Possible, with a foreword by President Bill Clinton. Abraham also published his memoirs in 2010, entitled Everything is Possible: Life and Business Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire and the Founder of Slim Fast.[9]

Philanthropy

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Abraham founded the Center for Middle East Peace in Washington, D.C.[10] Through personal friendship with leaders in the United States, Israel, and throughout the Middle East, he has worked over the past two decades to help bring an end to the Arab/Israeli conflict.[11] He is a major sponsor of the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace.[12]

Abraham endowed an S. Daniel Abraham Chair in Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University and a Chair in Nutritional Medicine at Harvard Medical School.[13] He has endowed the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and the S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies at Tel Aviv University. He funded the Dan Abraham School for Business Administration and Economics at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and the S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program at Yeshiva University, and Honors Program at Stern College for Women.[11] He holds honorary doctorates from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University and Yeshiva University. He is also the founder of the New Synagogue of Palm Beach. His gift to the Mayo Clinic served to create the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center, whose opening in 2007 received national media coverage.[14] The Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls was dedicated in honor of his mother.

He is a founding member of the New Synagogue of Palm Beach.[15]

Political contributions

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Abraham is a long-time donor to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Foundation. He gave $1.5 million to the party and ranked as the number one contributor of soft money to the national parties in 2000.[16]

Abraham donated $3 million to Priorities USA Action, a super PAC which supported Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.[17][18] In 2020 he donated $5 million to Democratic aligned Super PACs, including American Bridge 21st Century, House Majority PAC, and Senate Majority PAC.[19]

Personal life

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Abraham is divorced from his first wife, Estanne Weiner; they have four daughters:[20] Rebecca, Simmi, Leah, and Tammy.[21] He resides in Palm Beach, Florida.[1]

Abraham is currently married to Ewa Sebzda, with whom he has two children, Sarah and Sam.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Forbes 400: #335 S. Daniel Abraham". Forbes. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  2. ^ "Museum Of Jewish Heritage Home Addresses | Paladium.Net". Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
  3. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths ABRAHAM, STELLA K." The New York Times. December 16, 1998.
  4. ^ Shani McManus (April 20, 2010). "S. Daniel Abraham: Philanthropist and peace maker". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d "S. Daniel Abraham". American Jewish Peace Archive. Daniel Abraham was born in 1924 and was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home.
  6. ^ Rose, Lacey (April 6, 2005). "America's Most Famous Diet Gurus - Forbes". Forbes. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  7. ^ Kanner, Bernice (May 18, 1992). "Slim Pickings". New York. Vol. 25, no. 20. pp. 14–16.
  8. ^ Branch, Shelly; Beck, Ernest (April 13, 2000). "Unilever Buys Ben & Jerry's, SlimFast for Over $2.5 Billion". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  9. ^ Abraham, S. Daniel (September 2010). Everything Is Possible: Life and Business Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire and the Founder of Slim-Fast. ReadHowYouWant.com. ISBN 978-1-4587-5846-0.
  10. ^ "S. Daniel Abraham". Forbes. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "S. Daniel Abraham, Chairman". S. Daniel Abraham Center for Peace. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  12. ^ "S. Daniel Abraham: Philanthropist and peace maker - Sun Sentinel". Articles.sun-sentinel.com. April 20, 2010. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  13. ^ "S. Daniel Abraham | Jewish Virtual Library". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  14. ^ "Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center". Mayo Clinic. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  15. ^ "Get Connected". New Synagogue of Palm Beach. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  16. ^ Dunbar, John; Sylwester, MaryJo; Moore, Robert (June 25, 2002). "State parties collected nearly $570 million in contributions, soft money transfers in 2000". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  17. ^ "Priorities USA Action: Contributors, 2016 cycle". OpenSecrets. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  18. ^ Iacob, Ivona (May 27, 2016). "The Top Donors Backing Hillary Clinton's Super PAC". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  19. ^ "Abraham, S. Daniel: Donor Detail". OpenSecrets. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021.
  20. ^ New York Times: "New York Day by Day; A Marriage" by Susan Heller Anderson and David W. Dunlap, January 6, 1986.
  21. ^ Abraham, S. Daniel (June 13, 2012). Everything Is Possible: Life and Business Lessons from a Self-Made Billionaire and the Founder of Slim-Fast. ReadHowYouWant. ISBN 9781458758460.
  22. ^ "Abraham, S. Daniel 1924-". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022.
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