LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lev Leviev: Billionaire Lev Leviev
built 630 days ago
The announcement by Billionaire Lev Leviev, one of Israel’s wealthiest citizens, that he and his family are planning to leave Israel is causing reverberations all over Israel, and the Jewish world. Reported destination for Mr. Leviev is London, England, where the businessman and entrepreneur already has varied business interests. He is Chairman of African Israel Development Company, is ... head of L.L.D. Diamonds, the largest diamond manufacturing company in Israel and one of the largest in the world. Leviev, age 51, came to Israel originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1971, and has been one of the leaders of the Bukharian Jewish community in Israel for many years. The billionaire’s personal fortune has been estimated at “between 4 and 7 billion dollars”, and he is rated number 278 by Forbes rating of the wealthiest people in the world.
Source:
The news came this week that Lev Leviev, Israel’s richest man, a diamond billionaire, is emigrating to the UK. Why? The obvious reason: the tax code in the UK is more hospitable than Israel’s. Make no mistake, Leviev is a serious Jew — a Chabadnik — who maintains a serious level of support, both ideological and philanthropic, for the Jewish state. Yet one can sympathize with his need to find a place to live that is less predatory of his wealth. (If you want more on Leviev, check out this recent Zev Chafets profile from the NYT Magazine.)
Source:
Becoming an independent businessman at that age was the first expression of a major part of Leviev's character: his need to be independent. This risky entrepreneurial venture led, in time, to his position today. Lev Leviev is now a multi-billionaire, the second-wealthiest Israeli, a revolutionary in the diamond industry, and the major player on the Russian-Jewish religious and political scene. Leviev is single-handedly taking on the great DeBeers diamond cartel that has dominated the diamond industry for generations -- and by almost anyone's account, he's actually gaining ground on them. Leviev has parlayed his riches into political power and charitable contributions, touching the lives of countless Jews.
Source:
After famously battling De Beers, how tough could Manhattan’s condo world be for billionaire Lev Leviev? Now, alongside Shaya Boymelgreen, the developers go beyond Downtown by Starck with the conversion of http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/realestate/11deal.html ">20 Pine Street.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Billionaire Lev Leviev