Alex Shnaider
Alexander Shnaider | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 |
| Citizenship | Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Steel Billionaire, Owner Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club |
| Children | 3 |
Alex Shnaider (born 1968) is a Russian-born Canadian businessman. He is co-founder with Eduard Shifrin of the Midland Group. He is married to Simona Birshtein, who is the daughter of Boris Birshtein.
He was educated at York University in Toronto and is Canada's youngest billionaire.
He was named Chairman of the Royal Laser Corporation in May 2006.
Alex Shnaider partnered with Donald Trump in the construction of the Trump International Hotel and Tower, which is currently under construction in Toronto. Donald Trump is a minority shareholder in the project. Shnaider has reportedly decided to keep the penthouse suite for himself, at an estimated value of $20 million.[2] Current estimated net worth as of 2011 is around $500 million.
Steel
Alex Shnaider's fortune is founded on a steel trading venture which lead to his becoming the sole Sales Agency representing the total production of Zaporizhstal a steel mill in Ukraine. He is also a major shareholder in the mill though various Ukraine governments have made different statements of what per centage at any particular time. As of 2011 his net worth has substantially dropped to just around $500 million.
Formula One
Shnaider bought Jordan Grand Prix from Eddie Jordan in February 2005 for approximately USD $50 million, and renamed it Midland F1 Racing for the 2006 Formula One season.
Shnaider was originally going to start the team from scratch, however he purchased Jordan Grand Prix to guarantee his entry into the Formula One world championship without having to pay the bond that otherwise would have been necessary. Almost as soon as he bought the team, it was rumoured that he was unhappy with his purchase. For the 2005 season very little development work was done on the cars, while a technical partnership for 2006 with Dallara failed, as did a plan to set-up a Midland Formula Three team to develop young Russian drivers
On 9 September 2006, it was revealed that the team had been sold to Spyker Cars.[3] Spyker paid $106.6 million for the team. On 10 September ITV commentators said that Shnaider was no longer involved in the team since the announcement of the sale.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
On 18 December 2007, Shnaider offered to purchase 80 percent of the shares of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israeli businessman Loni Herzikowitz, for an estimated 65 million NIS, with the remaining stake held by the Maccabi Tel Aviv Sporting Club. The acquisition was finalized on 16 January 2008.
Toronto Maple Leafs
In January 2008, The Score television network in Canada, as well as TSN reported that Shnaider had expressed initial interest in purchasing Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, currently owned by a conglomerate including the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), TD Bank Financial Group, CTVglobemedia and Larry Tanenbaum. Reports suggest MLSE is worth approximately $1.5 billion thanks to assets including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, the Air Canada Centre and the television station Leafs TV.[4] It is suggested, however, that Shnaider may need to pay as much as $1.75 billion to convince MLSE's majority shareholder, OTPP, to sell its stake.
References
- ^ Forbes.com, The World's Billionaires - #557 Alexander Shnaider, 3 August 2007
- ^ Toronto Star, 11 April 2007
- ^ "Midland sells MF1 Racing to Spyker". Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Toronto billionaire interested in MLSE". Archived from the original on 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
External links
- [1] (Toronto Star article)
- [2] (The Toronto Star article)
- Midland Group
- Billionaires:Man of Steel (Forbes)
- Billionaire businessman key supporter of Russian community (Canadian Jewish News)
- Steeled for success (LifeStyles magazine)
- Fast Money (AutoNet.ca)
- Russian-Born Canadian Buys F1 Team (Moscow Times)
- Midlandia Photo of Shnaider's megayacht at the Monaco GP