Dayan emigrated to the United States in 1967,[1] and in 1972, with his brothers Eli and Avi, founded Bonjour International, a company that was the first to import low-cut French-style jeans into the United States using the Bonjour name.
Larger investments are made with partners and include the renovation of 5 Beekman Street with Joseph Chetrit;[3][4][5] the $290 million 2005 purchase (together with partners Joseph Chetrit and Yair Levy) of the 800,000 square foot historic 620 5th Avenue and its 2011 sale to RXR Realty, LLC for $500 million;[6] and the purchase of the Blake Hotel in Charlotte.
[7][8] When not in a partnership, Dayan focuses on new developments in gentrifying neighborhoods in Long Island City in Queens;[9] Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn;[10][11] and Manhattanville in Manhattan.
Dayan was an early proponent of the green movement in the textile industry.
[1] Dayan serves on the executive committee of the Israel Cancer Research Fund.