Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized billionaire and former Knesset lawmaker Stef Wertheimer, who died at age 98 on Wednesday, as “a man of industry, vision and the Land of Israel.”
“My wife Sara and I express deep sorrow upon the passing of Stef Wertheimer, of blessed memory,” Netanyahu said in a statement shared by the Prime Minister’s Office, describing Wertheimer as “one of those who built the country and a pillar of Israeli industry.”
“Out of his love for the homeland, he chose to build factories in the Galilee and the Negev, not just to manufacture products, but to build the future. He believed that economic endeavors in the country were Zionist endeavors in every respect,” continued Netanyahu.
“Stef left behind a legacy of initiative, giving and abiding faith in the power of humanity to create and to do good. On behalf of myself, my wife and the government of Israel, I send condolences to his family and those who loved him,” added Netanyahu. “May his memory be blessed.”
Ranked one of the richest Israelis with an estimated net worth of $6.3 billion, Wertheimer started the ISCAR Metalworking Company in 1952, 15 years after escaping Nazi Germany and moving to British Palestine.
The Israeli industrialist remained its principal shareholder until 2006, when American billionaire Warren Buffett, through his Berkshire Hathaway investment firm, bought 80% of his firm for $5 billion.
In May 2013, Berkshire Hathaway bought the remaining 20% of the company’s shares from Wertheimer for an additional $2.05 billion.
He served as a member of the Knesset between 1977 and 1981, initially under the short-lived Democratic Movement for Change, a centrist faction he helped found. After the party split up in 1978, he joined Shinui. During his term, he served on the Knesset Economics Committee.
During his lifetime, Wertheimer found several industrial parks around the country, which sought to foster coexistence between Israeli Arabs and Jews. The billionaire also drew up plans for an industrial park in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, but the plans were indefinitely shelved following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.
In 1991, Wertheimer was awarded the Israel Prize, the Jewish nation’s highest civilian honor, for his “contribution to society and the state.”
Wertheimer was married with four children and lived in Tel Aviv. One of them, the industrialist Eitan Wertheimer, died three years ago aged 70. His granddaughter is Israeli actress Maya Wertheimer, known from the comedy drama series, Shababnikim, and her marriage to Asaf Zamir, Israel’s former consul-general in New York and a retired lawmaker.