Beny Alagem - wikipedia Beny Alagem Beny Alagem 1953 ( age 63 -- 64 ) Israel Residence Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA Nationality Israeli - American Occupation Entrepreneur, business executive, hotelier, philanthropist Spouse ( s ) Adele Alagem Binyamin `` Beny '' Alagem ( Hebrew : בנימין אלג'ם ‎ ) ( born 1953 in Israel ) is an Israeli American entrepreneur, business executive, hotelier and philanthropist. He is the founder and former Chief Executive of Packard Bell Computers. He is the owner of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and the Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, California. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Philanthropy 4 Personal life 5 See also 6 References Early life Beny Alagem was born in Israel. He was a tank driver. Alagem studied at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona where he met fellow Israeli immigrants Jason Barzilay and Alex Sandel. In 1983, Alagem would partner up with Sandel and Barzilay to start Cal - Abco, a wholesaler of computer parts. In 1986, all three then invested into creating Packard Bell. As of 1995, Cal - Abco was still intact and was listed in the Packard Bell prospectus as a supplier of parts to Packard Bell with a shared credit line between the two companies. Career Alagem founded Packard Bell, a personal computer manufacturer, in 1986. He served as its Chief Executive and President until 1998, when he resigned after he disagreed with NEC and Groupe Bull, the two other main shareholders. In January 1999, he acquired the rights to the AST Research name from Samsung. Plate. Monument `` The Tel Aviv foundation ''. Tel Aviv. Israel. Alagem serves as the Chairman of the Alagem Capital Group, an asset management firm headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In December 2003, Alagem purchased the Beverly Hilton Hotel from entertainer Merv Griffin for US $130 million through Oasis West Realty LLC, where he serves as Chief Executive Officer. He proceeded to renovate it for an extra US $90 million. He is overseeing the development of the Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria with Guggenheim Partners, which is scheduled to be dedicated in 2017. Designed by the architectural firm Gensler, it is adjacent to the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills will be the first new luxury hotel for the brand on the West Coast. Philanthropy Alagem was appointed an Honorary Ambassador of the City of Tel Aviv in 1995. He serves as an honorary member of the Board of Directors of the Israeli - American Council ( IAC ). Indeed, he has been described by The Jewish Daily Forward as one of the `` major donors '' to the IAC. For example, he underwrote the entire cost of the Council Leadership Gala on March 11, 2012. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the American Friends of The Citizens ' Empowerment Center in Israel, a non-profit organization headquartered in Beverly Hills which promotes peace in Israel through research and education. In 2004, Alagem held a fundraiser for the March of the Living, a non-profit organization which annual funds trips for 18,000 students to see the horror of the Auschwitz concentration camp, followed by trip to Israel on Independence Day. The event, which took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and was attended by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Israeli ministers Ehud Olmert and Avraham Hirschenson, raised US $1 million. Alagem co-chaired a fundraiser for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 17, 2009. It raised US $5.2 million for the Israel Defense Forces. Alagem was the recipient of the Philanthropic Leadership Award from the Board of Governors of the Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in 2016. Personal life Alagem has a wife, Adele. They owned a three - bedroom apartment at 15 Central Park West on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which he sold for a US $4 million profit to investor Stuart Peterson. They reside in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. In 2011, they attended a fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. According to the Center for Investigative Reporting, Alagem uses `` at least 2 million '' gallons of water per year to irrigate his Bel Air estate. See also List of largest houses in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area List of largest houses in the United States References ^ Jump up to : Roger Vincent, Checking in to grandeur : Designers show off plans for the Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria, set to open in 2017, The Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2014 ^ Jump up to : `` A-Rod joins Sting, Denzel Washington, other rich and famous at 15 Central Park West '' Archived 2010 - 03 - 01 at WebCite Owen Moritz, New York Daily News, 28 February 2010. Jump up ^ Christina Binkley, The ' Trophy ' Hotel : Fabulous Fixer - Upper, The Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2004 Jump up ^ Sprout, Alison. `` PACKARD BELL SELLS MORE PCS IN THE U.S. THAN ANYONE. SO JUST WHO ARE THESE GUYS ? ''. Fortune. Retrieved 7 February 2017. ^ Jump up to : Chief of Packard Bell NEC Steps Down, The New York Times, July 1, 1998 Jump up ^ Samsung Sells AST Brand of Computers, The New York Times, July 12, 1999 Jump up ^ Packard Bell 's Alagem Buys AST Research ; Acquisition : A new company will be created from the Irvine - based Samsung unit to develop PCs, monitors, and Internet servers. Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1999 ; Business, PART - C, pp. 2 ; Financial Desk. ^ Jump up to : Alexandria Abramian, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts Unveils Plans for Beverly Hills, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 / 14 / 2014 ^ Jump up to : Laura Coleman, Alagem, Hilton Start Building Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria, The Beverly Hills Courier Jump up ^ Bloomberg : Alagem Capital Group Jump up ^ Alexandria Abramian, Guggenheim Partners to Bankroll Beverly Hilton 's Transformation ( Exclusive ), The Hollywood Reporter, 10 / 18 / 2013 Jump up ^ Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Emporis Jump up ^ Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts Unveils Plans for Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, waldorfastoria, April 11, 2014 ^ Jump up to : Israeli American Council : Honorary Board of Directors Jump up ^ Nathan Guttman, Israeli Immigrants Play Growing Role in American Jewish Community, The Jewish Daily Forward, January 17, 2014 Jump up ^ Ex-pat Israelis celebrate success at Leadership Council Gala, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, March 14, 2012 Jump up ^ American Friends of The Citizens ' Empowerment Center in Israel : Advisory Board Archived August 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : Kelly Hartog, Circuit : Governor of Hope, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, February 24, 2005 Jump up ^ FIDF : Western Region Gala Raises $5.2 Million to Benefit Soldiers Jump up ^ Orit Arfa, Stars Shine on Friends of IDF Gala Fundraiser, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, January 6, 2010 Jump up ^ `` Cedars - Sinai Board Of Governors Gala To Honor Adele & Beny Alagem and Sylvester Stallone ''. The Beverly Hills Courier. October 10, 2016. access - date = requires url = ( help ) ^ Jump up to : Juliet Chung, Sara Lin, Packard Bell Founder Agrees to Sell New York Condo, The Wall Street Journal, October 2, 2009 Jump up ^ Mark David, End of Week Pick Up Sticks : Brad Grey, Variety, September 21, 2013 Jump up ^ Tina Daunt, Hollywood Stays Away as Mitt Romney Raises More Than $1 Million in Beverly Hills, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 / 7 / 2011 Jump up ^ https://www.revealnews.org/article/who-is-the-wet-prince-of-bel-air-here-are-the-likely-culprits/ Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beny_Alagem&oldid=796596809 '' Categories : Living people 1953 births Israeli emigrants to the United States People from Bel Air, Los Angeles Israeli businesspeople American computer businesspeople American hoteliers Jewish American philanthropists Israeli Jews California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni Hidden categories : Webarchive template webcite links Webarchive template wayback links Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Articles with hCards Articles containing Hebrew - language text Talk Contents About Wikipedia עברית Edit links This page was last edited on 21 August 2017, at 22 : 51. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who owns the waldorf astoria in beverly hills
Answer: Binyamin "Beny" Alagem