Steve Witkoff

Steven Charles Witkoff (born March 15, 1957) is a New York real estate investor, landlord, and the founder of the Witkoff Group.

Witkoff was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx and raised in Baldwin Harbor, New York and Old Westbury, New York, the son of Martin and Lois Witkoff. His father was a manufacturer of ladies' coats in New York City. He earned a J.D. from Hofstra University. After school he worked for the real estate firm Dreyer & Traub, where one of his clients was Donald Trump.

In 1985, he partnered with fellow Dreyer & Traub attorney Laurence Gluck and founded Stellar Management (the name Stellar is derived from Steve and Larry) and purchased cheap buildings in Washington Heights, Manhattan. He accumulated a small portfolio of buildings and in 1995, he expanded into lower Manhattan, buying several cheap office buildings. In 1996, he was able to secure financing from Credit Suisse First Boston for the purchase of 33 Maiden Lane, a 27-story tower designed by Philip Johnson. A close relationship with Credit Suisse First Boston soon developed and Witkoff was able to purchase additional properties - typically using very little of his own money - including the landmark News Building. In 1998, he and partner Rubin Schron purchased the Woolworth Building for $137.5 million and he expanded his portfolio to include real estate purchases in Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia. In 1998, the planned IPO of his company was cancelled due to the collapse of the real estate market and Witkoff and Gluck dissolved their partnership with Gluck taking the residential properties and Witkoff the office buildings. Witkoff founded the Witkoff Group and expanded into residential construction and rehab. As of 2013, Witkoff owns about 30 properties in the United States and London.

In November 2013, the Witkoff Group announced their purchase of the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel (New York). The purchase was made with Jynwel Capital, a Hong Kong-based equity majority partner, for US$660 million.

Witkoff lives on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. In 1987, he married Lauren Rappoport. They have three sons. In 2011, the couple's son Andrew died of an OxyContin overdose at the now closed Sunset Plaza Drive sober living facility in California.