Daniel and Leslie Ziff
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Ziff-Davis, Ziff Brothers Investments, Och-Ziff Capital Management
FUNDING AREAS: Performing Arts, Conservation, New York
OVERVIEW: Daniel and Leslie Ziff support performing arts, conservation and New York City causes through the Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation. Available tax filings indicate that the foundation did not make any grant awards in 2018 and awarded $250,000 in grants in 2017.
BACKGROUND: Daniel Ziff is a graduate of Columbia University. He is the youngest of the three Ziff brothers who inherited the Ziff Davis media fortune in 1994. The brothers established Ziff Brothers Investments and significantly increased their inherited fortunes. Leslie Ziff holds a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts. The couple is divorced.
ISSUES:
PERFORMING ARTS: Daniel Ziff is a longtime supporter of performing arts in New York City. He began supporting Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1997, and since then his gifts to the institution have increased to about $1 million each year. Leslie Ziff has served on the board of trustees of the American Ballet Theater and Rosie’s Theater Kids, Rosie O’Donnell’s performing arts program for students from New York City’s “neediest elementary schools.” Additional past grantees include Mark DeGarmo Dance, the Polaris Dance Theatre, Sing for Hope, the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera.
CONSERVATION: The Ziffs broadly invest in environmental organizations. They have supported the National Audubon Society, Conservation International, and the National Resources Defense Council.
NEW YORK: The Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation is a regular supporter of a variety of New York City-based organizations. Past grantees include the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the New York Blood Center, Volunteers of America of Greater New York, the Central Park Conservancy, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York City, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
LOOKING FORWARD: The fate of the Leslie and Daniel Ziff foundation is unclear in light of the couple’s divorce.
CONTACT:
The Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation
350 Park Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10222
