Charles Bronfman

Charles Bronfman, (born June 27, 1931) is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family.

With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion in 2023, Bronfman was ranked by Forbes as the 1,217th wealthiest person in the world.

Bronfman was born into a Jewish family in Montreal.

He is the son of Samuel Bronfman and Saidye Rosner Bronfman.

He has two older sisters, the art patron Baroness Aileen "Minda" Bronfman de Gunzberg, and architecture expert and developer Phyllis Lambert.

His older brother, Edgar Bronfman, Sr., was his fellow co-chair of Seagram.

Edgar Bronfman Jr.. is Edgar's son.

He was educated at Selwyn House School in Montreal, Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, and McGill University.

Bronfman said he is Canadian in his heart but sought his dual citizenship in order to vote in the United States.

Bronfman held various positions in the family's liquor empire, Seagram, from 1951 to 2000.

In 1951 Bronfman's father Samuel Bronfman gave Charles a 33% ownership stake in Cemp Investments, a holding company for him and his 3 siblings which controlled the family's corporate empire.

Under the leadership of Charles and brother Edgar, it controlled billions of dollars in liquor, real estate, oil and gas, and chemical companies.

He was majority owner of Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos from the team's formation in 1968 until 1991.

Bronfman and his brother, Edgar, inherited the Seagram spirits empire in 1971 after the death of their father, Sam Bronfman.

In 1982, a day after the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League collapsed due to financial troubles, Bronfman bought their remains and used them to start a new franchise, the Montreal Concordes.

Since 1986, he has served as chairman of The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, Inc. He planned to close the foundation in 2016.

Since its foundation in 1986, the charity spent more than $340 million to about 1,820 organizations.

This venture proved far less successful – despite later rebranding the team as the Alouettes, the team folded prior to the start of the 1987 CFL season.

He sold the franchise for $100 million CAD to a consortium of local investors led by Claude Brochu on November 29, 1990.

The sale was completed 6 1⁄2 months later on June 14, 1991.

In 1991, Bronfman with billionaire Leslie Wexner formed the "Mega Group", a loosely organized club of some the wealthiest and most influential businessmen who were concerned with Jewish issues.

Max Fisher, Michael Steinhardt, Leonard Abramson, Edgar Bronfman Sr.., and Laurence Tisch were some of the members.

The "Mega Group" would meet twice a year for two days of seminars related to the topic of philanthropy and Jewishness.

From November 1997 until July 2002, Bronfman was the chairman of the board of Koor Industries Ltd., one of Israel's largest investment holding companies.

He is the co-chairman of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.

In 1998, Steven Spielberg spoke about his personal religious journey, and later the group discussed Jewish summer camps.

The "Mega Group", went on to inspire a number of philanthropic initiatives such as the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, Birthright Israel, and the upgrading of national Hillel.

From 1999 to 2001, Bronfman was the first chairman of the United Jewish Communities, the merged North American organization comprising United Jewish Appeal, the Council of Jewish Federations and United Israel Appeal.

Since 1999, the program has sent more than 700,000 young Jews from around the world on a 10-day free trip to Israel.

He was linked to scandal in 1999, when it was revealed that funds he had donated to social causes were transferred to Ehud Barak's election campaign for Prime Minister of Israel, to which he had previously contributed, among others.

Bronfman was the largest donor to contribute to the renovation of the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center and has also contributed to the Israel Museum.

Bronfman is a former co-chairman of the Seagram Company Ltd. On the 2000 demise of the company: "It was a disaster, it is a disaster, it will be a disaster," he says.

"It was a family tragedy."

Bronfman was also well known for his forays into professional sports.

In April 2013, Bronfman was one of 100 prominent American Jews who sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to "work closely" with Secretary of State John Kerry "to devise pragmatic initiatives, consistent with Israel's security needs, which would represent Israel's readiness to make painful territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace."

He and Michael Steinhardt co-founded Taglit Birthright, a program which provides a free, educational travel experience to Israel for young Jewish adults.

Bronfman is one of its principal donors.

The Fredric R. Mann Auditorium was refurbished by Bronfman's donation, and reopened as the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, in May 2013.

Bronfman is chairman of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies Inc., a family of charitable foundations operating in Israel, the U.S., and Canada.

In 2016 Bonfman closed the charity, which was planned over years.