His mother was Barbara Ingrid Beitz, an ethnic German whose parents were awarded the "Righteous among the Nations" honorific by the State of Israel for providing refuge and risking their lives to save Jews during World War II.
[1] His father was the Jewish American media magnate William Ziff Jr. (d. 2006), who had built the Ziff-Davis magazine empire founded by William Bernard Ziff Sr. that included titles such as Popular Aviation, PC Magazine, and Car and Driver.
[2] In 1981, Ziff graduated from the Trinity School in New York City where his father served as trustee.
[2][4] Ziff and his brothers Daniel and Robert inherited the family fortune in 1994 after their father sold 95% of the business to Forstmann Little for $1.4 billion and retired.
[10] The couple lives in North Palm Beach, Florida[6] and vacations at their Martha's Vineyard home.