Mody Kidon

Mody Kidon (Hebrew: מודי כידון‎) is an Israeli businessman, with interests in real estate both in Israel and abroad. He is the chairman of the Israel Advertising Federation and a senior business manager for Gitam Image Promotion Systems, a private holdings company.

Personal life and family

Born in 1954, Kidon served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force,^[1] and continued to fly until the age of 45 as a reserve pilot. He retired with the rank of Major. Kidon achieved a Baccalaureate in Economics from Tel Aviv University, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program (AMP). He is married to Sharon Kidon (Hebrew: שרון כידון‎), a journalist and television personality. They are the parents of four children.

Business career

Gitam BBDO

In 1981 Kidon joined the advertising firm Gitam Image Systems, founded by his father Yochanan Goldberg-Kidon (Dovz’e) (1921–1986), and by his cousin Moshe Theumim (born 1945). BBDO Omnicom purchased 49% of Gitam in 1994, turning Gitam BBDO into the first Israeli advertising agency with a global partnership.^[2] In 1997, Gitam made history^[3][4] by producing the first advertisement in space, which was noted in the Guinness Book of Records.^[5] Mody Kidon was appointed in 2004 as Chief Business Officer of BBDO Group in Israel and chairman of the TMF media company.^[6] In 2011, Gitam was ranked as the leading agency by the Calcalist Financial Paper.^[7]

Real-Estate

Kidon's initial foray into real-estate investing began in 1995 as a founding partner of Vitania,^[8][9] with acquisitions in Israel focusing on office buildings mainly in Ramat Hachayal (Tel-Aviv) and Herzliya 'High-Tech' Business Parks. In 2010, Kidon as founder and chairman, set up Alto Investments.^[10] Alto launched a series of investment funds,^[11] building up portfolios of U.S. and European real-estate assets.^[12]

References