Dan David (Hebrew: דן דוד; 23 May 1929 – 6 September 2011) was a Romanian-born Israeli businessman and philanthropist.
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Dan David was born to a Jewish family in Bucharest, Romania. He joined a Zionist youth movement at the age of 16. After studying economics at university, he worked for Romanian television and became a press photographer. In 1958, his newspaper asked him to travel to West Germany on an assignment. When he requested an exit permit, he was accused of being a Zionist activist and was fired from his job.[1]
He left Romania for Paris in August 1960, later settling in Israel. The following year, he traveled to Europe. With a $200,000 loan from a cousin, he won the franchise for Photo-Me International automated photography booths in certain countries. He opened branches in Israel, Spain, Romania and Italy, eventually taking over the company.[2] When David was chairman[3] of Photo-Me in 1999, his and board-member Serge Crasnianski's shares were valued at 210 and 200 million pounds, respectively.[4]
David died in London on September 6, 2011.[5]
In 2000, David founded the Dan David Foundation with a $100 million endowment. The Foundation, together with Tel Aviv University, awards the Dan David Prize (first awarded in 2002), which consists of annual awards of three prizes of $1 million each awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the fields of science, technology, culture or social welfare.[6]