Florida-Israel Business Forum
Chaim Katzman - Chairman
Chaim Katzman is the founder, controlling shareholder and chairman of Gazit Inc., the parent company of Gazit-Globe Ltd., a leading international real estate investment company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE:GLOB) under the TA-25 Index.As executive chairman, Mr. Katzman directs global operations, manages affiliate and subsidiary activities, and oversees more than $14 billion (U.S.) in assets in North America, Europe and Asia. Mr. Katzman has served as Gazit Inc.'s chairman since 1991, and has served as chairman of Gazit-Globe Ltd. since 1995.
Mr. Katzman is the chairman of the board of Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY), a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that he founded in 1992. Equity One acquires, renovates, develops and manages more than 180 shopping centers in major U.S. metropolitan markets. Since 2000, he has also served as chairman of First Capital Realty, Inc. a Canadian real estate investment company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE:FCR). In addition, as chairman of Gazit, he is involved in the operations of Citycon Oyj, a publicly traded, top performing Northern European property investment company, owned in part by Gazit (40%).
In 2008, following an investment by CPII Gazit Holdings, Mr. Katzman was named chairman of Atrium European Real Estate Ltd. (VSX: ATR), a leading real estate company that owns, operates and develops shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe.
A pioneer in the retail investment and development industry, Mr. Katzman participates in the International Council of Shopping Centers (lCSC), the National Association of Real
Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the Urban Land Institute (ULl), the Real Estate Roundtable and Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).
Mr. Katzman is also an active civic leader, supporting multiple organizations in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to serving as the Chairman of the Florida-Israel Business Forum (FIBF) since January 2010, he serves on the Board of trustees at the Miami Art Museum, the Concert Association of Florida Inc. and the GableStage Theatre organization. He is a member of the International Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University and serves as Southeast Region Chair of the American Friends of Tel Aviv University, an organization that serves as a link between American and Israeli scholars, government officials and community leaders, and served as a Chairman of the WIZO Israel Federation Annual Fundraising Campaign and The Israel Cancer Association Lending a Hand to Lives.
In 2004, Mr. Katzman and Gazit-Globe Ltd. established the Chaim Katzman Gazit-Globe Real Estate Institute in the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University - the first of its kind in Israel. The aim of the institute is to serve as a venue for academia to meet with the real estate industry and the industries allied with it. Mr. Katzman is a graduate of Tel Aviv University Law School. He and his wife, Dr. Shulamit Katzman, reside in Florida and have three daughters.