Isaac Tshuva, the Everyman
Isaac Tshuva, the Israeli energy king whose $2 billion net worth makes him the country’s sixth-richest citizen, is not one for opulence.
Yes, at 61, Tshuva owns the Delek Group, which helped discover the Tamar field, 7.7 trillion cubic feet of gas near the Haifa coast that could help wean Israel from imported coal and gas. His global empire also includes, but is not limited to, luxury apartment towers in cities as varied as Los Angeles and Singapore, power plants, gas stations and New York’s Plaza Hotel.
But Tshuva’s idiosyncrasies suggest he’s more of an everyman. According to a profile in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek, the Libyan-born, Israeli-bred billionaire:
- Eschews ties
- Drives his own car (a beige 2008 Cadillac Sedan)
- Is just as comfortable with a fancy PowerPoint presentation as he is with a table surface and a handful of sugar packets to illustrate which gas deposits he owns in Israel
- Works at an office located between an IKEA and a brewery
- Refuses to wear a watch because, at his bar mitzvah, his parents couldn’t afford one
Considering the magnates controlling America’s most powerful companies, Tshuva’s lifestyle is certainly worth consideration.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
