Talk:List of Jewish American businesspeople

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S/be List of Jewish American businesspeople. 24.17.48.241 18:39, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Where's List of Black People with Rhythm? Where's List of Really Smart Asians? ♥ «Charles A. L.» 14:55, 9 March 2006 (UTC)


actually these lists are kind of silly; it might make sense to list equadorian jews, or lichtenstein jews, there would be so few of them; but in america, most industries have a significant number of jews, and in some industries (media, etc.), jews might hold as many as 25% to 50% of the top positions; maybe the general lists should only include founders of major businesses (again, see media); only on specialized lists (e.g. nobel prize winners) should jews be listed. ag

i've deleted sherry lansing and michael eisner, they have both retired/been fired. actually it makes little sense to have listed them in the first place, at any given moment several or most of the studio heads are jewish, what's the point of listing them when it's common knowledge? ag

Why do we have this list, in addition to a list of famous Jewish Americans? I don't see a list of Irish-American businesspeople or Mexican-American businesspeople. I can't help but suspect that this list was created with an eye toward anti-Semitic stereotypes. As the person said above, you might as well create a list of African-Americans with Rhythm. A.V. 13:25, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

I think this list depicts something, these people didn't get where they are with no purpose, it's quite clear that these are the most powerful people in America and America is being run by them. unsigned comment left on 11:04, 10 September 2006 by User:212.127.12.179
Regardless of the intentions of the person creating this page, I see it as useful. there is much uninformed discussion about the prevalence of Jews in various industries in America. Some say they are excluded while anti-semites claim they run everything through a huge conspiracy. So here's a neutral list. I would love to see a list of Irish-American businesspeople or Mexican-American businesspeople. Feel free to create it. African-Americans with Rhythm is a funny idea but of course it's impossible to decide who 'has rhythm'.
One problem with this page is that it has no sources. Curtains99 10:51, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Lots of Additions

In light of the recent deletion of the painstakingly compiled "Category:Jewish American businesspeople," I am about to start adding a lot of names here, all of them that were formerly found in the aforementioned category. Just thought I'd mention it here first. --172.131.223.107 19:45, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

By the way -- I will go back and write descriptions for each person that I have added later on. I am just trying to compile the list now. --172.135.140.225 22:54, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
Please make sure that ALL additions include sources that are reliable. Some editors have questioned your intentions/agenda so keep it on the up and up please. Thanks--Tom 18:52, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
Like I've wrote here before, I'm basically just transferring the names that were in the now defunct "Category:Jewish American businesspeople" to this page. This is all I'm doing; nothing more, nothing less. --172.129.26.26 05:44, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Racist attitude?

I feel people who make lists based on ethnical ancestry must be racists. This one makes me feel ashamed of being part of a Jewish family. Please delete this all, you morons. SooperJoo 10:41, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Why would you think this? Jews are very racially conscious people and always have been; indeed, it was probably a Jew that originally created this list. It's just too bad that it has expanded to include the owners of ALL the major media conglomerates in the USA, owners of all of the movie studios, owners of most of the cosmetic companies, CEOs of most major banks and investment houses, major pornographers, computer and software company CEOs, etc. Indeed, noticing that Jews are only about 2.5% of the population in America, doesn't it amaze you that they own and control so much of America and comprise at least 40% of the people on the Forbes 400 list? You should be proud that your ethnic brethern have been able to acquire so much (mostly through mergers and acquisitions). --172.128.26.209 11:06, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Calling racism "racially conscious"? Well, I am sure a next Hitler will very pleased with your list, saves a lot of work selecting us for extermination doesn't it? Fucking idiots. SooperJoo 11:25, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Extermination?! Who is talking about that? This is something that you brought up, so it is clear that you are paranoid; why would you be so? Does this list bother you or something? Do you think that it might go against democratic principles of fairness, along with the free-market ideals and 'competitiveness' that capitalism depends on? How can we have a free market and a competitive marketplace if all of the media companies and banks have already merged together? I'm not sure who you are demonizing here (by the way: Hitler is dead); all I am doing is trying to compile a list of Jewish American businesspeople (information which was already mentioned on their Wikipedia pages, by the way), trying to bring as many of these names on to one page. I can't help it if they happen to control a VERY large portion of the economy of the United States and are disproportionately a ridiculous number of the world's billionaires. --172.128.26.209 12:04, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
You are correct -- I did add some info about the 'Israel lobby' because the two are so closely related; many of the Jewish business leaders and their companies listed here are involved with it. The vast majority of the people that I added to this list were formerly listed in the "Category:Jewish American businesspeople" that was deleted after only 3 people voted on it (however, I think that it will be restored soon because it was unethically deleted). So I'm not being sloppy, just transferring data. By the way: Milton Hershey WAS Jewish (ethnically, but not religiously) [www.israelnewsagency.com/jewisrael194800.html]. --172.129.26.26 05:34, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
Milton Hershey was not Jewish, in any sense of the word. Both his parents were Reformed Mennonites from Pennsylvania, as were their ancestors: his mother's father was a minister, while his father's family can be traced all the way back to a Swiss immigrant called Christian Herche (1664-1720). Philo-Semitic twaddle like that israelnewsagency article is about as reliable as the anti-Semitic type at villagevanguard. Their approach to research is something along the lines of: "Ooh, Milton's a common Jewish name, and Hershey sounds a bit like Herschel. Hurrah!". 82.45.203.48 20:16, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources needed

We need a reliable source for each person listed on this page. I am going through the Software and Internet section. Please help put to improve the quality of the page by finding sources for another section. Please note cases where the individual has just a Jewish mother. There are a lot of people rumoured to be jews who aren't such as Jeremy Paxman and Rupert Murdoch and this type of misinformation will creep into the page without references. I am really impressed by how well the jews have done in America. Congratulations! Curtains99 13:29, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Their Jewish heritage is discussed in the actual articles themselves. Therefore, there really is no need to source every single person here or it will end up looking like the article List of Jewish American journalists which is obviously limited and very short when compared to "Category:Jewish American journalists." Like I said, it's already stated on each person's article that they are Jewish (either wholly or partially), so there's no need to re-state it here when that info is to be found in their individual article(s). --172.163.119.135 21:40, 13 January 2007 (UTC)to
As per WP:RS, a wiki is not a reliable source, so one wikipedia page cannot be the source for the verifiabilirty of another. Not every wiki page about the people on this list refers to their Jewish heritage. Take Larry Page, for example. As for reducing the length of the page if verifiability is insisted on, I'd prefer a short verifiable list to a long list of people rumoured to be jews. Curtains99 11:04, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
Following some research, a lot of people on this list are not verifiably Jewish and I'm going to remove a large number of them. Curtains99 23:11, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
Again, for the people on this page it is either mentioned in their articles that they are Jews, or they were formerly listed in the "Category:Jewish-American businesspeople." Even if you go and look at the very large page List of Ashkenazi Jews (not sourced), along with List of Jews in the military (not sourced), List of Jewish American poets (not sourced), List of Jewish American mathematicians (not sourced), List of Latin American Jews (not sourced), or the vast multitude of other list articles at Lists of American Jews or Lists of Jews that aren't sourced either -- you will notice that the overwhelming majority of these article are not and have never been sourced because this info regarding the person's ethnic and/or religious is already in the individual's article.
Other lists are partially sourced (often poorly so), like List of Jewish historians or List of Jewish American journalists; again, nearly all of these names on these lists rely on the information found in the person's article or in the external links found within the article(s). It is no different for this list of Jewish American businesspeople. But if you are prepared to source the entirety of this article and perform various other mass-deletions here, I hope that you are, in the interests of NPOV, prepared to do this with ALL of the other Jewish themed lists as well (and there are many). --172.133.194.208 06:32, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
In the case of a someone who is described as Jewish in that person's main article, we need to check the source for that description. Wikipedia articles cannot rely on each other as sources (see wp:rs). Many individuals on this list are not described as Jewish in their main articles. Take, for example, F. Duane Ackerman: is he Jewish? I can't find a source anywhere. Unsourced information can be removed by any editor and it is the responsibility of the person adding the information to find the source to back up their claims. You are right that in many cases a person's religion may not have been published anywhere. Unpublished information is not included in Wikipedia - whether true or false.
NPOV does not require that editors must change each and every violation of Wikipedia policies; instead this policy refers to using a neutral point of view in article content. The only content in this article is of the form 'X is Jewish' which sounds neutral to me. I don't have time to carry out all these edits quickly but I'll make a start on the Software/Internet section and see how I get on. Feel free to help out. Curtains99 13:03, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
Where's the list of Jewish Criminals? (Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky)68.164.200.175 06:34, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
There's a partial list at List of Jewish-American mobsters; check out Lists of Jewish Americans for more lists, but keep in mind that most of these list are partial and will never be totally complete. --172.165.117.69 04:36, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone have a copy of the Encyclopedia Judaica? I heard that there is a new edition of this out recently and that it may be a source for many names on this list. Curtains99 12:16, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] See Also section

I was going to prune this section based on relevance rather than original research/gut feeling that it belongs. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. I am from the "less is better(especially unsourced original material)" school of thought. Cheers!--Tom 14:14, 25 January 2007 (UTC)


[edit] [[1]]

Dude, you are like adding every tom dick and harry to this list. It is suppose to be famous folks. Do you have an agenda you would like to share with the reat of the community? Something on your mind? Thanks--Tom 00:04, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

As long as the person has an article here on Wikipedia, is a Jew (this info is either found in the article or verified through web searches), and is involved in business, I'm going to add them to this page. You might think that I have an agenda, but I absolutely do not; in fact, it seems that Jayjg is the one with the agenda, for he/she is blatantly abusing his admin. status, tossing around threats by threatening to blank or stub the page, and slanting certain in a philo-Semitic fashion -- on this page he/she is the one performing mass deletions of people that are/were both Jews and businesspeople (the vast majority of them already found in either the List of Jewish American economists or List of Jewish-American mobsters articles).
It's important to note that ALL of the people I've added from these lists are both Jews (duh: they're already found on a Jew list AND it's stated in their article) and are/were involved in various business enterprises; in the case of the mobsters it wasn't always legitimate businesses, but it was business nonetheless. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and revert back to the pre-mass-deletion version. Jayjg, as is easily seen by glancing at his/her edits, is fiercely protective and hypersensitive regarding any article(s) dealing with Jews or Judaism; I think that he/she has lost the spirit of NPOV when dealing with these particular articles. This should be looked in to and, if necessary, these tasks should be relegated to another admin. since Jayjg has clearly lost the NPOV spirit in regards to Jewish themed articles. One more thing: look around Wikipedia and notice that the vast majority of lists on Wikipedia ARE NOT SOURCED; so why is he/she singling out this one with such eagerness? Why bother stating and restating endless sources when the info is found in the person's article? --172.144.6.247 06:39, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

This list will be properly sourced, per WP:BLP. Deal with that please, rather than discussing other Wikipedia editors. Every item must be sourced, and I will have no qualms about semi-protecting this article if you do it once again. Jayjg (talk) 07:08, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

To demonstrate your blatant POV hypocrisy I'm going to start tagging a few articles of my own now. G'day. --172.144.6.247 07:18, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Please keep WP:POINT and WP:CIVIL in mind. Jayjg (talk) 07:20, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

This page should be restored to what it was; from there we can start adding references to the names. This page's deletion was a blunder. It's idiotic to just start over. If you look around at other lists of Jews, these lists are still allowed to exist and were not deleted/blanked despite the fact that they don't cite sources (see List of Jews in sports, List of Black Jews, List of Jewish-American politicians, and DOEZNS upon DOZENS of other Jewish lists), and I've been working to tag these lists. This is hypocrisy to which I refer; since you have blanked/deleted the names off of this list you should start blanking the dozens of other lists that have no sources. According to you Jayjg, EVERY name MUST have a sourced link on their page, not in their Wikipedia articles. So, you better start blanking those lists, and referencing the tens of thousands of names on each of these list -- the ones that don't have a source on the page for each and every name must be deleted immediately. In the end, EVERY list on Wikipedia MUST look like the List of German Jews article. So, I ask again: if dozens if not hundreds of these lists still remain entirely unreferenced, why are you targeting this particular one Jayjg? --172.168.34.145 22:33, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
It is extremely POV to pick on this article when there are so many totally unreferenced ones to be found on Wikipedia; in fact, about 80% of Wikipedia is entirely unreferenced, as people (especially the admins.) are supposed to assume good faith when it comes to additions to lists and articles. Jayjg, you have demonstrated your inability to remain POV when dealing with certain articles and, due to this, your status as NPOV admin. should be most certainly be investigated and reconsidered.
I also want to tell everyone that the uncensored list of Jewish American businesspeople can now be found at the following link ---> List of Jewish American businesspeople. --172.168.34.145 00:32, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proper sourcing

Please ensure that the sources indicate that the people in question are Jews (or Jewish), and that they are American businesspeople (not just American citizens). Previous editors on this page were, for example, inserting people like Philip Berg into the page.[2] Whatever you think of the individual, I'm sure his followers would view him as a spiritual leader, not a "businessperson". Jayjg (talk) 04:29, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

No problem. We can just include each person's job title and company. Philip Berg is an exceptional case as it's not clear whether he is Jewish and it's not clear whether he is a business person. Curtains99 10:57, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
If the source doesn't say the person is a "businessperson", then you're on very shaky ground. Jayjg (talk) 00:17, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
It doesn't matter what Berg's followers think -- remember, you have to keep a NPOV. Philip Berg is both Jewish (he's a rabbi) and a businessperson, along with a spiritual leader to his followers (i.e. he is all of the above). Philip Berg's Kabbalah Centre is a for-profit organization, as ALL of the centre's classes/books/material cost money; individual classes run hundreds of dollars apiece (or more), while the Kabbalah studies certificates/diplomas/degrees offered by the centre require many classes and thus often run in the tens of thousands thousands of dollars. Also, the centre's website is a .com and not a .org; Berg's Kabbalah Centre is not a tax exempt religious organization as churches, synagogues, mosques, etc. officially are in the USA -- thus, it is a business with a spiritual focus (like many New Age centres/shoppes, astrologers, numerologists, alternative medicine practitioners, psychic hotlines, voodoo doctors, etc.) with Philip Berg (and the other members of his immediate family) as the business heads. It is worth noting that, given the Kabbalah Centre's international presence (List of Kabbalah Centre locations) they make a whole lot of money (much like Scientology and the like), and indeed Rabbi Berg & Family are as a consequence very wealthy people (much like the majority of the Grand Rebbe's in the various branches of the Hasidic movement, they collect money or 'donations' from all of their followers or 'disciples'). So, to answer both of your questions: YES the Kabbalah Centre is a business, a business with a spiritual focus -- and since Rabbi Berg & Family run the Kabbalah Centre, they are quite obviously businesspeople. Come on now -- any 'spiritual organization' that charges $26 + shipping for a measly metre of red string that supposedly wards off the "evil eye" [3] is a obviously a business. --172.161.68.238 12:31, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
Please read WP:NOR. It's not up to you to decide who a "businessperson" is. Jayjg (talk) 00:17, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
Does that make Madonna a Jew?Curtains99 14:00, 29 January 2007 (UTC)


I highly recommend deleting the article. Perhaps it has some value and can be justified, but overall and judging from the discussion it is a racist's playground. Dom, 23 March 2007 86.137.224.202 00:47, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Beginning Again With Deleted Information, Much Of It Still Very Valuable

Since the former list was hastily and unjustly deleted and MUCH valuable, true, and reliable information was consequently lost, I am re-posting the former list [4] of Jewish American businesspeople here so that it can be used as a template to build the new list. Please strike through names on this list as they are added back again to the main article/list.


[edit] Delete ALL unsourced lists of people

Wikipedia should delete all unsourced lists of people. There is a selection bias in choosing the names even if individual names are sourced. The source itself should contain a substantial and encyclopedic and reliable list. Time to make Wikipedia suck less guys. We can expect even more professors to make adding wrong information a class assignment if we don't clean up our act. 4.250.168.30 14:33, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

You are nothing like alone in thinking that. I don't see how lists of foos can be included in an encyclopaedia with this policy but too many wonks do want them, so no hope of common sense, or the actual policies of the place, prevailing. Grace Note 06:17, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

It is very POV to suggest that unique policies should apply to lists of people. Wil Grace Note propose the deletion of all unsourced articles?--Runcorn 17:10, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What a ridiculous article

Apart from the question of whether such pages as this are even necessary or useful, the insistence on absolute documentation of someone's heritage (e.g. "Mother is Jewish") reminds me of the parallel (but inverse) situation of 70 years ago ("prove that you are not Jewish"). OK, fine, there are officially 6 Jewish businesspeople in the world. Very helpful. I am surprised. Thank you.

I am not Jewish, and have no stake in this, but the excessive and rigorous documentation of banal and useless data was a specialty of 70 years ago in Europe. --Joybucket 15:08, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

--Runcorn 15:24, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Restored list

Well, since this list has been dormant for months and no one is taking any initiative to rebuild it, I went ahead and restored it (with the important [Unreferenced] and [Not verified] tags now standard on all of the Lists of Jews and Lists of American Jews, of course). First off, I would like to point out that this overwhelmingly accurate, slowly/carefully compiled list was unjustly deleted by User:Jayjg because he disputed a single name (namely Philip Berg, so I went ahead and took him off of the list). Also, since around 90% or more of the other lists/articles at Lists of Jews and Lists of Jewish Americans aren’t sourced (or only partially so), it was entirely unfair to single this particular list/article out for an unjustified (even censorious) mass-deletion.

I’m also a big fan of the policy that I just (re)discovered: Wikipedia:Ignore all rules. Thus, since the POV and unfairness of certain editors is preventing me from offering substantial improvements to Wikipedia, I feel that this POLICY is entirely applicable in this case. Also, I’ve restored this article so that I will have a list with which to start tracking down references for each name over time (even though 99 times out of 100 they are sourced at the source: this is acceptable for nearly all of the other lists of Jews here on Wikipedia, and because of this I fail to see why this article is any different and was singled out for a ruthless mass-deletion). For example, if one looks at the List of Jews in sports list (only one example of MANY), that is a large list as well yet barely contains any sources -- however, I don’t see anyone trying to wipe out that list out on a tyrannical whim. Again, the mass-deletion of this page in late January was entirely unfounded and unfair -- thus I will 'keep up the good fight' until this list remains intact as it should. I hope that any other Wiki-users reading this, those that have any sense of rationality, fairness, and common sense within them, will strongly agree with me after examining the evidence and the history of this page. --Wassermann 00:55, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

This rather smacks of WP:POINT. Can I please ask you to supply references for all or at least most of these names within the next 7 days.--Runcorn 15:25, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
You've had weeks to provide sources, but done nothing. If you persist in the WP:POINT violations of WP:BLP you will undoubtedly be blocked. Please take care. Jayjg (talk) 02:21, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
Thank G*D that such unsavory characters as Jack Abramoff are no longer be listed as Jewish-American Businessmen. There is NO WAY that guy is Jewish. Thanks Jayjg for your infallible logic. --Joybucket 04:45, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
How strange; you have no problem with insisting on reliable citations when it comes to rather obvious and well-known facts like this, yet seem to have difficulties with the concept when it relates to yellow badging people. Please avoid further straw man arguments and violations of WP:CIVIL. Do you have any citations for names you wish to add to this list, per WP:BLP? Jayjg (talk) 06:17, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
Sure, why not ask for some token evidence for an assertion that the Philistines were from Greece. It is pretty darn politically charged, as there seems a naturalised and elided implication that the Palestinians are really Greeks, and thus are completely without claim to any levantine land. Speaking of Yellow Badge, please see my comments above. Back to matters at hand, I am interested to know the standard by which why American businessman and lobbyist Jack Abramoff is not really Jewish. Is it this one? --Joybucket 16:15, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
The article made no such claim or implication; it merely stated the origins of the word Palestine. Regarding the rest of your statement, I have no idea what your obsession with that fellow Abramoff is, but I'm just going to repeat that to be entered in this list an individual must be cited by a reliable source as being Jewish, American, and a businessperson. Jayjg (talk) 20:27, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
Oh, it ain't me who is obsessed, my little man. I am just amused (though slightly disturbed) when "exacting proof of the self-evident and widely known" is fetishized. See if this will float your boat. --Joybucket 21:38, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
Image:Abramoffproof.JPG
NY Times article documenting the amazing surprise that Jack Abramoff is an American Jewish businessman
I'm also a little disturbed when exacting proof of the self-evident and widely known" is fetishized. On the other hand, you should be concerned about WP:BLP, your continuing obsession with this Abramoff fellow, and your continuing violations of WP:AGF and WP:CIVIL. I don't know anything about Abramoff, but based on that article it appears he's a Jewish American lobbyist. I don't see anything in there about him being a "businessperson". Jayjg (talk) 22:29, 11 April 2007 (UTC)