Morris Kahn (born March 1930) is a South African-born Israeli billionaire entrepreneur. He is the founder of Golden Pages Israel, Amdocs, the Aurec Group, Coral World and other companies. Through Coral World he founded several marine parks around the world, including the underwater observatory in Eilat, Israel. He is active in philanthropy and venture philanthropy under the patronage of the Kahn Foundation.
Early life
Morris Kahn was born in March 1930 in Benoni, South Africa, the eldest child of Philip and Beattie Kahn. He was an active member of the Zionist youth group, Habonim.
In 1956, Kahn moved from South Africa to Israel with his wife, Jacqueline Maloon, and their two sons, Benjamin and David.
Business ventures
Kahn’s business career in Israel began with a few business ventures, including a bicycle factory in Beit Shemesh in partnership with Kibbutz Tzora; and a cattle company in the Northern Galilee.
His first major success began with the establishment of the Golden Pages in Israel, which led to the co-founding of Amdocs in 1982, together with Shmuel and Tzvi Meitar. Amdocs provides customer relationship management and billing software for big telecommunications firms. The company, which is traded on NASDAQ (revenue in fiscal 2015: $3.6 billion) currently serves more than 300 clients in more than 90 countries.
Kahn is part owner of the Aurec Group, an Israeli-based private equity firm which started with investments in the cable and telecom sectors.
He is a principal investor in Aurum Ventures and the clean tech water company Atlantium, that uses UV rays to disinfect water, and N-Trig, a manufacturer of multi-touch screens for computers. In 2016 Aurum Ventures invested $3 million in a new method of diagnosing cancer developed by Noklaiks (Nucleix) Israel.
Time to Know is a digital education platform which Kahn first launched as a nonprofit organization focused on improving grade school education, but has since developed into a for-profit business which is being tested in schools in New York City and in Israel.
Summary
| Morris Kahn | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 1930 (age 86–87) Benoni, South Africa |
| Residence | Beit Yanai, Israel |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Education | Benoni High School |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder and chairman of Aurec Group |
| Net worth | US$1.0 billion (January 2017) |
| Spouse(s) | Jackie Maloon (died 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
Morris Kahn
Israeli businessman Morris Kahn has an estimated net worth of $1 billion as of June 2016 according to Forbes. Morris Kahn started accumulating his wealth when he became an investor to the customer-relationship management-and-billing software firm, Amdocs, which catered the needs of many large telecom companies. When the company went public sometime in 1998, Kahn decided to cash out his shares from the company which earned him around $1 billion.
While working as a principal of Aurum Ventures, Morris Kahn started investing in several companies like N-Trig, which manufactures multi-touch screens for computers, and Atlantium which specializes in water disinfection. Currently, the firm also holds interests in renewable energy, automotive and telecom outfits.
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