Eduardo Sergio Elsztain (born January 26, 1960) is a prominent Argentine businessman who is his country's largest real-estate developer. According to The Jerusalem Post, Elsztain "stands atop Argentina's largest business empire, the country's leader in real estate and agriculture, which he built with his own two hands."
He is the chairman of Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. (IRSA), Argentina's largest real estate company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange; of CRESUD, a leading agri-business company that operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay and is listed on the NASDAQ; of BrasilAgro (Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas), which is also on the NYSE; and of the public–private partnership Banco Hipotecario, Argentina's leading mortgage bank in which Elsztain is the largest private shareholder.
Through IRSA, Elsztain runs most of the shopping malls in Argentina.
Early life and education
Eduardo Sergio Elsztain was born in Buenos Aires in 1960. His grandfather, Isaac Elsztain, had left Russia in 1917, after the Russian Revolution, and settled in Argentina, where he purchased various properties. He founded Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. ("Investments and Brokerage, Inc," or, IRSA) in 1943 as an independent realty firm. The younger Elsztain graduated from the Buenos Aires National College, a prestigious public secondary school, and enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires School of Economics, though in 1981, upon the death of his uncle, who had been managing the family realty, he dropped out of university to manage the firm, which was struggling at the time.
Elsztain married psychologist Mariana Carmona in 1991. They have had four children and live in the neighborhood of Belgrano, where he has lived all his life.
A devout Jew, Elsztain built a synagogue next door to his home. His sister lives in Israel (Elsztain also has two brothers who serve in executive positions within the group, as does a cousin). Elsztain is a follower of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who "advised him to sell his holdings on the stock exchange and focus on real estate, a suggestion that turned out to be well timed."
Career
Mindlin and Soros partnerships
Elsztain took over IRSA after returning to Buenos Aires "from a volunteer year in Israel." He "required financial assistance from his Jewish Argentine friend, Marcelo Mindlin, in order to raise $120,000 to acquire IRSA shares." When Elsztain took control of IRSA, it was worth only $100,000.
Several of Elsztain's firms, including Cresud, Grupo Dolphin S.A., and Alto Palermo S.A., were founded in partnership with Mindlin. Their business partnership ended in 2003.
Elsztain lived in New York in 1989-90. During that period, in 1990, he "talked his way into a meeting with the legendary investor George Soros," according to Haaretz. Another source states that Elsztain met Soros "through contacts...in the Jewish community in Buenos Aires." In any event, Soros "was persuaded to let the ambitious young man manage $10 million for him," which Elsztain did "with great success." Speaking to The Jerusalem Post in 2013, Elsztain himself described "the moment...that changed his career" as follows: "I somehow managed to land a meeting with George Soros, a very rich man. We talked for an hour or so, and then he asked me how much money I thought I could handle. I told him I could manage $10 million, and he said 'Okay, no problem!'" Soros told the Post that Elsztain, despite his youth and inexperience, "knew when to sell and when to buy." This encounter precipitated Elsztain's quick "leap from utter anonymity to Argentina's business elite."
Soros became a leading investor in IRSA. The partnership with Soros became profitable for both parties, as the Argentine economy recovered during the 1990s from the severe stagflation of the previous decade. Within four years Elsztain had raised $110 million and acquired "office buildings and shopping centers in Argentina, including the Alto Palermo Shopping Mall." Elsztain's meeting with Soros has been described as the turning point in his career. He has been called "Soros' golden boy." In 1992-94, Soros helped Elsztain gain control of Cresud, a leading landowner of prime pampas agricultural land, and served as his partner in the firm for many years. IRSA entered the international equity markets with Soros's backing in 1994. Losses stemming from the economic crisis that began in 1998 led the Soros Fund Management to divest most of its IRSA interests by late 1999. In total, Elsztain worked for over a decade with Soros.