BUSINESSPEOPLE from Israel

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Israeli Businesspeople of all time. This list of famous Israeli Businesspeople is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Arnon Milchan (1944 - )

With an HPI of 52.06, Arnon Milchan is the most famous Israeli Businessperson.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Arnon Milchan (Hebrew: ארנון מילצ'ן; December 6, 1944) is an Israeli billionaire businessman, film producer and former spy. He has been involved in over 130 full-length motion pictures and is the founder of production company Regency Enterprises. Regency's film credits include 12 Years a Slave, JFK, Heat, Fight Club, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Milchan has earned two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture, for L.A. Confidential and The Revenant. Milchan was also an Israeli intelligence operative from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. As of January 2024, Forbes estimated Milchan's net worth at US$3.3 billion, ranked 937th worldwide and 13th wealthiest in Israel.

2. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (1938 - )

With an HPI of 47.83, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh is the 2nd most famous Israeli Businessperson.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (Arabic: طلال أبو غزالة; born April 22, 1938) is the chairman and founder of the international Jordan-based organisation, the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org). Dubbed as the godfather of Arab accounting, Abu-Ghazaleh has also been credited for promoting the significance of Intellectual Property in the Arab World.

3. Micky Arison (1949 - )

With an HPI of 42.83, Micky Arison is the 3rd most famous Israeli Businessperson.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Micky Arison (born June 29, 1949) is an Israeli-American billionaire businessman and chairman of Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise operator. From 1979 until 2013, he was also the company's chief executive officer. Arison is also the owner of the NBA's Miami Heat, which under his ownership has won three NBA Championships.

4. Zeev Suraski (1976 - )

With an HPI of 34.19, Zeev Suraski is the 4th most famous Israeli Businessperson.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Zeev Suraski (Hebrew: זאב סורסקי Hebrew pronunciation: [ze-ev so-raski pron]) born February 18, 1976, is an Israeli programmer, PHP developer and co-founder of Zend Technologies. A graduate of the Technion in Haifa, Israel, Suraski and Andi Gutmans created PHP 3 in 1997. In 1999 they wrote the Zend Engine, the core of PHP 4, and founded Zend Technologies, which has since overseen PHP advances. The name Zend is a portmanteau of their forenames, Zeev and Andi. Suraski is an emeritus member of the Apache Software Foundation, and was nominated for the FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software in 1999. Zeev Suraski was the Chief technology officer for Zend Technologies until he left the company in August 2019. On October 17, 2018, he announced his intention of leaving Zend Technologies as Rogue Wave Software, which acquired Zend Technologies in 2015, decided to change the strategic focus of the company. Since August 2019 he's the Chief technology officer of Strattic. He was the lead contributor to PHP from 1997 onwards. Suraski works at Google, and is the husband of Anya Suraski, and father of three daughters.

5. Andi Gutmans (2000 - )

With an HPI of 23.79, Andi Gutmans is the 5th most famous Israeli Businessperson.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Andi (Andrei) Gutmans is an Israeli programmer and entrepreneur.