Ira Leon Rennert, born on the 31st May 1934, is an American entrepreneur and investor. He became known to the business world for his successes in salvaging dying companies and is now known to be one of the richest men in New York.
So how much is Rennert’s net worth? As of late 2016, it is reported by authoritative sources to be over $6 billion, acquired from his years in the investment world and for his various other businesses as well.
Ira Rennert Net Worth $6 Billion
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Rennert attended Brooklyn College graduating in 1954 and later his master’s degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business. After finishing his studies, he launched his career working on Wall Street, initially as a credit analyst for a few years, and later serving as a partner at Rubin, Rennert & Co. Although he was just starting out in the business world, he was already building up his net worth.
In 1962, Rennert decided to start his own company, and opened I.L. Rennert & Co. but unfortunately due to some problems, he violated the so-called net capital rule and his license to work in the securities industry was revoked. Rennert was fortunately able to bounce back and made billions of money with his new career. He became part of the company Integrated Resources in which makes money from junk bonds; after the company suffered some losses, Rennert saw it as an opportunity, and started Renco Group trading bonds for his own company.
Rennert concentrated in building up his own company by buying all the shares of a company that is struggling, and financing the acquisition by issuing junk bonds. His strategy proved to be successful and tremendously increased his wealth over time. Some of the companies he was able to make money from included WCI Steel, Magnesium Corporation, and AM General to name a few. Although he did encounter some mishaps and highly publicized controversy, Rennert has continued to succeed.
In terms of his personal life, Rennert is married to Ingborg Hanna Rennert, a former airline ticket agent. Together they have three children, Tamara Yonina and Ari. The couple lives in New York to their controversial mansion in Sagaponack.
Aside from succeeding in business, Rennert is also big in philanthropy. He has donated $1 million to the World Trade Center Memorial, $5 million to the Wiesel Center at Boston University, and $250,000 to the Lincoln Center.
Being Jewish himself, he has helped projects with regards to his faith, including donating funds to help build The Western Wall Heritage Foundation in Jerusalem. He and his family are also donors to The Jonas Mendel Rennert Memorial Chapel. They also founded the construction for a new mikvah at the synagogue in Fifth Avenue.
