The Jewish Billionaire Wedding That Brought Together Hillary Clinton, Tiffany Trump and Football
Image by Instagram/Twitter
You know that recurring nightmare you have where you’re getting married but Hillary Clinton is there, and randomly so is Huma Abedin and a cast member from “The Real Housewives,” and then Tiffany Trump shows up? Plus, for some reason, in the dream your parents and your fiancé’s parents are billionaire political donors who give significantly to warring parties but nobody mentions it.
Living this American dream-cum-political nightmare this past weekend were Alexander Swieca, 25, and Sophie Lasry, 24. Both are the offspring of billionaire hedge-fund managers. Both are Jewish.
The bride, who attended the University of Pennsylvania, now works in business development for her father Marc Lasry’s investment firm, Avenue Capital Group. Lasry is a philanthropist who, as an 11- year-old, had her Beyonce-inspired bedroom renovation profiled in The New York Times.
Marc Lasry and his wife, Cathy Cohen, are longtime supporters of the Democratic Party, and Lasry was a top Clinton contributor and fundraiser during Clinton’s bid for the 2016 presidency. Lasry is so dedicated to finding employment for members of the Clinton family that he gave Chelsea Clinton a job at his hedge fund in 2006.
The groom, a former University of Michigan quarterback who never played organized football in high school, is also employed by his father, working for Talpion Fund Management in investing. Talpion was founded by Henry Swieca, the billionaire son of two Holocaust survivors who is married to American-Israeli Estee Tobaly. Adding to this stranger-than-fiction news story, Alex Swieca is currently the Israeli American National Football Team’s quarterback, concurrent with his investing work. Hold on to your helmets, it’s just going to get weirder.
Now add to this society-gossip-cholent the fact that, while Lasry’s family has an allegiance with the Clintons, Henry Sweica is a longtime donor to mostly Republican causes, including major donations to Mitt Romney’s campaign, as well as a $22,500 donation to the Republican National Committee in 2012. Donation records from the Swieca family, Talpion and the Swieca Family Foundation, while easy to locate for all other years, are conspicuously absent for 2016. A source who is familiar with the family reports that the Swiecas supported Donald Trump.
The important thing here is that at the wedding, everyone wore a yarmulke.
The couple, who has dated since high school, married last weekend rather fittingly at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The chuppah was a spectacular three-tiered feat of architecture, building from an art deco-style metal box to a thick canopy of white blossoms, overseen by a sweeping canopy of tulle. Afterward, Lasry and Swieca departed, amid jumbo balloons and couture-wearing guests, in a vintage yellow taxi, bound for a honeymoon in Puerto Rico.
Hillary Clinton strode into the wedding looking like a turquoise version of Gandalf the White emerging purified from the fiery battle with the Balrog. Her husband wore a deep-blue suit with angular lapels and just a hint of shimmer. Tiffany Trump coordinated in a sequined blue cocktail dress of the exact same hue.
A good time was had by all.
Image by Instagram
Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter, @jeanvaljenny
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