Selim Zilkha

Selim Zilkha (b. 1927)[1] is an entrepreneur who founded Mothercare, one of the United Kingdom's largest retail chains.

Career

Born in Baghdad to an Iraqi Jewish family,[2] Zilkha was raised in Lebanon, Egypt and the United States, Selim Zilkha was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City and Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.[3] He served in the US Army during World War II.[3] He then worked in finance in the family firm Zilkha & Sons from 1947 to 1960.[3]

He then moved to the United Kingdom, where he bought the 50-store W.J. Harris nursery furniture chain, which he renamed Mothercare, and expanded it until it had over 400 stores. He sold his interest in Mothercare in 1981 and moved back to the United States.[3]

In 1982, he invested $28 million in Towner Petroleum[4] and in 1998, he sold his investment for $1 billion.[5]

In 2002, he donated $20 million to complete a Neurogenetic Institute in Los Angeles.[3]

He is currently the co-owner of Zilkha Biomass Energy, which owns timberland and which makes pellet biofuel in Texas.[6] He is also the co-owner of Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, Inc.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Biography at Laetitia Vineyard website
  2. ↑ Forbes: "From Baghdad to Bel Air" by Phyllis Berman February 23, 1998
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Los Angeles Businessman Selim Zilkha Pledges $20 million to USC’s Neurogenetic Institute USC News, 30 July 2002
  4. ↑ A wildcatter on the tame side replacing roughnecks with computers New York Times, 20 March 1998
  5. ↑ Sunday Times Rich List The Times, 1 March 2009
  6. ↑ Zilkha: Our Owners: Selim K. Zilkha
  7. ↑ Selim Zilkha Businessweek