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| Haim Saban | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1944-10-15 Alexandria, Egypt |
| Nationality |  USA /  Israel |
| Other names | Hebrew: חיים סבן |
| Occupation | Media proprietor |
| Spouse | Cheryl Saban (née Chackler) |
| Children | 4 |
Haim Saban (Hebrew: חיים סבן, born 15 October 1944 in Alexandria, Egypt) is a television and media proprietor. With an estimated current net worth of 2.8 billion USD, he is ranked by Forbes as the 102nd richest person in America.
Personal life
Haim Saban was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1944.
As a result of the 1956 Suez War, which pitted Egypt and Israel against each other, Haim, along with his family, and much of the Egyptian Jewish community, fled to Israel. After almost going bankrupt in 1975, he moved to Paris, France. Later, in 1983, he moved again to Los Angeles. He currently resides in Beverly Hills, California and in Israel.
Saban is married to Cheryl Saban (née Chackler), with whom he has two children. Through Cheryl, he is also the step-father of Tifany and Heidi Lenhart.
Career
Saban started his career as a concert organizer and music promoter in Israel. He was near bankruptcy in 1975 prior to moving to France.
In France, he participated in the introduction of Japanese anime and sentai TV series in the country. He produced the scores and opening themes for UFO Robot Grendizer and Candy Candy. He also did the same work on early imported series from America such as Starsky & Hutch and Dallas.
Saban Entertainment
Main article: Saban EntertainmentIn the United States, he became a television producer, founding Saban Entertainment in 1983. During that time, Haim Saban and partner Shuki Levy became known for soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s. Although Levy and Saban composed for their own properties (such as Kidd Video and Maple Town), they scored for other production companies as well (such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, Dragon Quest, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors).
In the 1990s, Saban's company became best known for the adaptations of Power Rangers, Masked Rider, VR Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs.
In 2003 he headed the $5.7 billion purchase of Kirch Media Group, the then-bankrupt German media conglomerate.
ABC Family Channel
Main article: ABC Family ChannelIn 2001, he and News Corporation sold Fox Family Worldwide for $5.1 billion to The Walt Disney Company for ABC - the network was renamed ABC Family Channel.
Saban, as an individual, profited about $1.6 billion from this sale. It is believed that this is the largest transaction between a company and a private citizen ever.
Univision
Main article: UnivisionIn June 2006, Saban led a group of investors bidding for Univision, the largest Spanish-language media company in the United States. Other investors in the Saban-led group were Texas Pacific Group of Fort Worth, Texas and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The group was successful in acquiring Univision with a bid valued at $12.3 billion (USD).
Shareholders have since filed a lawsuit over the handling of the deal.
Politics
Pro-Israel focus
Saban ascribes his interest in politics to his concern for Israel: "I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel."
A profile of Saban, published by the New York Times in 2004, described him as "throwing his weight and money around Washington and, increasingly, the world, trying to influence all things Israeli."
Glenn Greenwald has criticized Saban for being "an Israeli-American neoconservative who was a 2004 supporter of George Bush, was a close associate of Ariel Sharon, and spent the 1990s persuading Bill Clinton (with millions of dollars in donations to the Democratic Party) to be more supportive of Israel."
Campaign donations
Saban has donated to Israel's left-of-center Labor Party.
Saban has been a large and consistent donor to the United States Democratic Party according to his mandatory Federal Election Commission filings.
Mother Jones, in an analysis of the major donors to the campaigns of 1998 election cycle, ranked Saban 155th among individual donors. Amy Paris noted that Saban's Clinton-era "generosity did not go unrewarded. During the Clinton administration, the entertainment executive served on the President's Export Council, advising the White House on trade issues."
During the 2000 presidential election, Saban increased his rank to 5th among individual donors with a combined contribution of $1,250,500.
Matthew Yglesias wrote that "Saban was the largest overall contributor to the Democratic National Committee during the 2001-2002 cycle, when the party leadership was backing the Iraq War and Terry McAuliffe was DNC chair." Saban's donations during that 2001-2002 period exceeded $10 million, the largest donation the DNC has received from a single source up to that time.
In May 2007, Haim declared his support for Hillary Clinton in 2008 presidential election. Matthew Yglesias related Saban's support of Hillary Clinton primary candidacy to his 2001-2002 election cycle donations to the then Iraq war-supporting DNC saying that "if Clinton becomes president, they'll be back in the positions of influence they enjoyed back then. I doubt this all means that Hillary Clinton's secretly itching for war with Iran, but it's yet another illustration of the fact that her views on national security policy are too neoconnish for my tastes."
He has also made some select donations to members of the Republican Party including a 2003 contribution to George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. Regarding Saban's selective support of Republicans, The New York Times writes: "Mr. Saban is a vocal opponent of President Bush ---- 'I think Bush is just messing it up every day more' ---- he supports some of Mr. Bush's policies. 'On the issues of security and terrorism I am a total hawk.'"
Saban joined Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg in endorsing the re-election of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican Governor of California, on August 7, 2006.
Saban Center for Middle East Policy
Main article: Saban Center for Middle East PolicyIn 2002 Haim provided an initial grant of 13 million USD and a pledge of additional funds to create the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a foreign policy think tank based in Washington, D.C.. The Saban Center is part of the larger Brookings Institution think tank. The Saban Center aims to provides policy makers in government with information and analysis regarding America's foreign policy in the Middle East.
Haim personally recruited Martin Indyk to direct the Saban Center.
References
- ^ Shavit, Ari (2006-09-12). "'You made it big, you jerk!'". Israel: Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ "'The 400 Richest Americans: #98 Haim Saban'". Forbes. 2006-09-21. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Ackman, Dan (2003-03-17). "Mighty Morphin Haim Saban". Forbes. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ "Univision Accepts $12.3 billion Saban-led Bid". Reuters. 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Mehta, Stephanie (2007-05-14). "The man with the golden gut". Fortune. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Sorkin, Andrew (2004-09-05). "Schlepping to Moguldom". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- Greenwald, Glenn (2007-08-12). "The truth behind the Pollack-O'Hanlon trip to Iraq". Salon.com. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Paris, Amy (2001-03-05). "The Mother Jones 400: Haim Saban (with Cheryl)". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Yglesias, Matthew (2007-06-10). "Haim Saban". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ "Saban Center for Middle East Policy". SourceWatch. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ "About Us". Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
Further reading
- Sorkin, Andrew. "Schlepping to Moguldom." The New York Times. September 5, 2004.
- Shavit, Ari. "You made it big, you jerk!." Haaretz. September 12, 2006.