Lev Avnerovich Leviev (born July 30, 1956 in Tashkent, USSR) is a Bukharian-Israeli billionaire businessman, with a net worth of roughly $12 billion following the 2008 global financial crisis. Leviev is one of the most prominent Mizrahi Jewish individuals in the world and has been a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern Europe and Israel. His diamond mining investments in Angola and his investments in Israeli settlements have been the target of protests.
Personal Life
Leviev was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR in 1956, and today lives in London and Israel. His parents, Avner and Chana Leviev, were prominent members of the Bukharian Jewish community, and Leviev practises Chabad Sephardic Judaism. In 1971, when he was fifteen, his family emigrated from Uzbekistan to Israel. Shortly afterwards, Leviev began to work as an apprentice in a diamond polishing plant, learning the 11 steps of the diamond cutting process. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, he established his own diamond polishing plant.
After the Revolutions of 1989, Leviev expanded his business endeavors into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He received the blessings for success in business and personal support of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson for his philanthropic activities, which include "an army of some 10,000 Jewish functionaries from Ukraine to Azerbaijan, including 300 rabbis. Most of the 300 rabbis are Chabadniks" - adherents of the Brooklyn-based Chabad Hasidic group. In particular he sponsors many of the activities of the Jewish Learning Initiative.
Leviev moved to Hampstead, London, with his wife Olga and their daughter, Ruthie, in 2007. As a keen follower of golf, Leviev also maintains a house in the beach resort of Ponte Vedra, Florida.
From : www.wikipedia.org
