Eyal Ofer

Eyal Ofer (born 2 June 1950) is a Monaco-based billionaire, born in Israel.

He is a real estate, energy, technology and shipping magnate, an art collector, and a philanthropist.

He is the chairman of Ofer Global, Zodiac Group and Global Holdings.

Ofer was born in 1950 in Haifa, Israel.

His father, Sammy Ofer, was a Romanian-born Israeli shipping magnate and once Israel's richest man.

Ofer graduated from Atlantic College, an international boarding school affiliated with the United World Colleges, based in St Donat's Castle, Wales.

In his teenage years, he spent summers working on one of his family's ships, loading cargo, scraping the boats' sides and repainting them, as well as traveling to international ports.

He served as an intelligence officer in the Israeli Air Force from 1967 to 1973.

He then studied Maritime Law at the University of London.

Ofer's business interests are concentrated in shipping, cruise lines and global real estate within the Ofer Global group, a Monaco-based private company focused on shipping, real estate, oil and gas, banking and investments in Europe, North America, the Near East and Asia.

Ofer first moved to New York City in 1980 to start the family real estate business, and invested in properties on Park Avenue South, which he rented to law firms and public relations firms through his real estate company, Global Holdings.

Over the years, he assembled a real estate empire, having acquired a deep knowledge of ships which had made him comfortable with managing similarly tangible assets.

Ofer is the chairman of Global Holdings, a private real estate holding company specializing in large-scale commercial real estate and high-end residential developments.

Its holdings include prime commercial properties in Manhattan, and a controlling stake in Miller Global Properties, a large real estate investment fund focusing on key markets in North America and Europe.

He serves as Miller Global's co-chairman.

Global Holdings' commercial projects include, among others, and 120 Park Avenue – the former headquarters of the Altria Group.

Its residential projects include 15 Central Park West, which was described as “the most powerful apartment building in the world” and “the most lucrative”, with quoted apartment sales of approximately $2 billion.

Ofer started his career in international maritime transportation in all the major shipping segments in the 1980s.

He is the chairman of Zodiac Group, a privately held Monaco-based ship owning and chartering (i.e. leasing) company with a fleet of more than 180 vessels.

It is the largest operator of vessels under the Red Ensign by tonnage.

Ofer has been a director of Royal Caribbean Cruises, the second largest cruise company in the world, since May 1995 and holds a significant stake in the company.

In 2022, Ofer was ranked 7th in the Lloyd’s List Top 100 Most Influential People in the Shipping Industry.

According to Lloyd’s List, "the consensus view from those who know Eyal Ofer best is that he is a man who understands the markets with forensic detail".

He controls one of the larghest private shipping fleets in the world, and is the third-largest non-operating owner of containerships in the world.

In 2021, a Japanese-owned merchant tanker managed by Zodiac Maritime suffered a drone attack which killed two people.

The US military announced that the drone had been produced in Iran.

Through O.G. Energy, he is involved in energy production, including renewable energy, and the production of green hydrogen.

He has spoken at industry events, including at the Milken Institute Global Conference in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

Ofer also regularly attends the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.

He is "one of the most influential shipowners in the industry”, according to Lloyd’s List, ranking among its 100 most influential people, since 2013, including as tenth in 2016, and seventh in 2014, 2021, and 2022.

18 Gramercy Park South (ranked the most expensive Manhattan development in 2013) and 15 Central Park West were designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern.

50 UN Plaza is a 44-story tower designed by London-based architects Foster and Partners.

Ofer’s portfolio includes more than 120 properties and over 2,500 hotel rooms.

In 2014, he received an honorary lifetime membership of the Baltic Exchange in London in recognition of his contribution to shipping in the UK and global maritime trade.

Other recipients of this award have included the Duke of Edinburgh, Winston Churchill, and Maersk Mc-Kinney.

It was the subject of a book published in March 2014 by Michael Gross entitled House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address.

They also include the development at The Greenwich Lane (in partnership with the Rudin family - formerly the site of Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center), together with the redevelopment of 18 Gramercy Park South, 520 Park Avenue and 50 United Nations Plaza (all in partnership with Zeckendorf Development).

In 2018, Ofer joined the Advisory Board of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.

The board is made up of a group of leaders in their fields from business, government, education and philanthropy.

In June 2023, Bloomberg reported his net worth to be US$20.7 billion.