Jeff Yass
Born
Jeffrey S. Yass

1956 (age 67–68)
NationalityAmerican
EducationBinghamton University (BA)
NYU
OccupationMoney manager
Known forCo-founder and MD, Susquehanna International Group
Political partyRepublican
Board member ofCato Institute
SpouseJanine Coslett
Children4

Jeffrey S. Yass (born 1956) is an American billionaire business magnate. According to Forbes' list of the richest people in the world in 2023, Yass has a net worth of $28.5 billion, placing him as the 48th richest person in the world.[1]

He is the co-founder and managing director of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and an early investor in TikTok. In 2001, he joined the executive advisory council of the Cato Institute.

Yass is considered the richest man in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. An influential political figure, he is one of the 10 largest political donors in the United States. [2]

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, he is a major supporter of Israeli right wing think tanks.[3]

Early life

Yass grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in Queens, New York.[4] He is the son of Gerald Yass, and his "childhood sweetheart" Sybil, who was at his bar mitzvah.[5][6] Gerald has a sister, Carole.[6] Gerald graduated with a BS from LIU Brooklyn in 1951, and worked as an accountant, rising to chairman of Datatab Inc. He later co-founded Philadelphia Trading, which became SIG.[6] As of 2018, he still worked for SIG, as a senior executive and advisor.[6]

Jeffrey Yass was educated at public schools in Queens.[7] He earned a BS in mathematics and economics from Binghamton University.[8][9] He pursued graduate studies in economics at New York University,[9] but did not graduate.

Career

While at the State University of New York at Binghamton in the 1970s, Yass and five fellow students became friends and later co-founded Susquehanna International Group (SIG), the largest trader of liquid stocks in the US.[5][10]

The billionaire trader Israel Englander sponsored Yass for a seat on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and SIG was initially run from an office at the Exchange.[5] His father, Gerald Yass, also helped to found the company.[5] Prior to this, Yass was a professional gambler.[11]

Political activities

Yass became a member of the board of directors of the libertarian Cato Institute in 2002[12][13] and now is a member of the executive advisory council.[14] In 2015, Yass donated $2.3 million to a Super PAC supporting Rand Paul's presidential candidacy.[15] In 2018 he donated $3.8 million to the Club for Growth, and $20.7 million in 2020.[16]

Yass and his wife, Janine Coslett, are public supporters of school choice, with Coslett writing a 2017 opinion piece for The Washington Examiner in support of then-incoming Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos's views at school choice.[17]

In November 2020, it was reported that Yass had donated $25.3 million, all to Republican candidates, and was one of the ten largest political donors in the US.[2]

In March 2021, an investigation in Haaretz said that Jeff Yass and Arthur Dantchik were behind a large portion of the donations to the Kohelet Policy Forum in Israel.[18][3]

In November 2021, he donated $5 million to the School Freedom Fund, a PAC that runs ads for Republican candidates running in the 2022 election cycle nationwide.[19]

In June 2022 ProPublica claimed Yass has "avoided $1 billion in taxes" and is "pouring his money into campaigns to cut taxes and support election deniers".[20]

Recognition

In 2001, Yass appeared as one of 76 Revolutionary Minds in Philadelphia magazine.[21]

As of 2023, he was the richest man in Pennsylvania, according to The Intercept.[22]

Personal life

Yass is married to Janine Coslett.[23][24] They have lived in Haverford in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania for some years.[2] They have four children, two sons and two daughters.[25]

In December 2001, following the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he announced a donation to the charitable fund established by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to assist the victims.[26] He has supported Save the Children,[27][28][29] "Spirit of Golf Foundation",[30] People's Emergency Center Families First building,[31] and the Franklin Institute's Franklin Family Funfest Committee.[32]

References

  1. ↑ "Forbes Billionaires 2023: The Richest People In The World". Forbes. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Knickerbocker, Ken (November 5, 2020). "Bala CEO's $25 Million Contribution to Republican Candidates and Groups Makes Him One of America's Top Political Donors". MontCo Today. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "The U.S. billionaires secretly funding the right-wing effort to reshape Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Beating the Odds – Susquehanna International – Jeff Yass". Philly Mag. August 26, 2009. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Susquehanna International Group LLP Stands To Make Billions Off TikTok". The Intellectualist. October 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "LIU Brooklyn Alum Gerald Yass Endows Scholarship for Accounting Majors". LIU Magazine. Spring 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  7. ↑ Bunch, Will (March 24, 2015). "It's the libertarianism, stupid". www.inquirer.com.
  8. ↑ "Bloomberg profile: Jeff Yass". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Speaker | Jeffrey Yass". www.sloansportsconference.com.
  10. ↑ Gara, Antoine. "How Trader Jeff Yass Parlayed Poker And Horse Race Handicapping Into A $12 Billion Fortune". Forbes. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Jeff Yass". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Board of Directors". Cato Institute. 2006. Archived from the original on August 17, 2005. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  13. ↑ Segal, Geoffrey F.; Samuel R. Staley (September–October 2002). "News Notes" (PDF). CATO Policy Report. Cato Institute. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2003. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  14. ↑ "Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives". Cato Institute.
  15. ↑ "Million-Dollar Donors in the 2016 Presidential Race". New York Times. August 25, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Billionaires backed Republicans who sought to reverse US election results". the Guardian. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  17. ↑ "DeVos isn't opposed to public education, she opposes failing schools". February 7, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Jewish American tycoons are financing far-right policies in the US and Israel". Middle East Monitor. March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  19. ↑ "School Freedom Fund PAC Donors".
  20. ↑ "Meet the Billionaire and Rising GOP Mega-Donor Who's Gaming the Tax System". Propublica. 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2002.
  21. ↑ Jordan, Sarah (November 2001). "76 Revolutionary Minds". Philadelphia Magazine. Archived from the original on June 29, 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  22. ↑ Lacy, Akela (January 25, 2023). "Centrist Democratic PAC's Sole Funder Is a Republican Megadonor". The Intercept. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Margaret Coslett Obituary (2015) - Times Leader". www.legacy.com.
  24. ↑ "Class of 1981". www.muhlenbergconnect.com.
  25. ↑ "2009 Men's Water Polo: Robbie Yass". Brown University Athletics. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Port authority establishes world trade center memorial fund to aid victims and their families". Port Authority of NY and NJ. September 29, 2001. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  27. ↑ "Save the Children Presents Distinguished Service Awards to Trustees Jeffrey Yass". Trustees Saluted. Save the Children. April 10, 2001. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  28. ↑ "Protecting Children in a Time of Crisis - Annual Report 2008" (PDF). Save the Children.
  29. ↑ "Revitalizing Newborn and Child Survival - Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Save the Children.
  30. ↑ "SGF Advisory Board Members". Spirit of Golf Foundation. 2006. Archived from the original on May 14, 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  31. ↑ "Families First Contributors". People's Emergency Center (PEC). 2006. Archived from the original on October 9, 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  32. ↑ "Franklin Family Funfest" (PDF). 7th Annual Franklin Family Funfest. Franklin Institute. October 22, 2004. Retrieved September 15, 2006.

Further reading

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