Deals
Soros Protege Makes a $700 Million Gamble
The Argentine joins a long line of foreign investors struggling in Israel
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Eduardo Elsztain thought he could succeed where dealmakers like Jared Kushner, Patrick Drahi and Matthew Bronfman didn’t: In Israel, the land of his business dreams.
The Argentine businessman has achieved plenty elsewhere. Back in 1990, it took him just an hour to persuade George Soros to give him $10 million to invest. He parlayed that and other investments into a holding company that by 1997 had made about $360 million in acquisitions. Then he and Soros picked up 25 percent of Argentina’s largest state-run mortgage bank in a privatization that ultimately gave them management control.