Sassoon Family Trust earmarks $50 billion (!) for helping Israel's economy

This is mind-boggling. From Calcalist:

The Sassoon Family Continuation Trust, established in 1485 during the Spanish Inquisition, has recently announced that it will commit $50 billion across three funds to “fulfill a mandate to ensure the economic growth and market impact for Israel.” 

 

“There’s a vacuum here, and someone needs to fill it,” David Sassoon told CTech. As a direct descendant of Sassoon trust and its sole beneficiary, he is now the executive chairman of J. Sassoon Group, a Washington, DC-based private equity and investment banking firm and oversees its ventures across the world. Ahead of making ‘Aliyah’ (moving to Israel) later this year, he shared the plans for the trust and its hopes for investment that can help support the longevity of the country.

Over the next 15 years, the Trust will invest $50 billion dollars into three funds. The first, The Israel Hellenic Fund, will focus on the relationship between Israel and Greece, ensuring it goes beyond a military and security collaboration to an economic, tech, life science, and real estate partnership between the nations. The second fund, called The Patriot Fund, will be joint between the U.S and Israel and concentrate on technology pertaining to the national security sector. The final fund is called the Zion Fund and will focus on Israel’s startup scene, with an emphasis on renewable energy, telecommunication, transportation, and infrastructure.

 

$50 billion over 15 years means that the Sassoon family is giving roughly the amount that the US gives to Israel annually!

(h/t Noah)

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