[2] According to The Jerusalem Post, Elsztain "stands atop Argentina's largest business empire, the country's leader in real estate and agriculture, which he built with his own two hands.
The younger Elsztain graduated from the Buenos Aires National College, a prestigious public secondary school, and enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires School of Economics, though in 1981, upon the death of his uncle, who had been managing the family realty, he dropped out of university to manage the firm, which was struggling at the time.
Elsztain is a follower of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who "advised him to sell his holdings on the stock exchange and focus on real estate, a suggestion that turned out to be well timed.
He "required financial assistance from his Jewish Argentine friend, Marcelo Mindlin, in order to raise $120,000 to acquire IRSA shares.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post in 2013, Elsztain himself described "the moment...that changed his career" as follows: "I somehow managed to land a meeting with George Soros, a very rich man.
"[7] In 1992-94, Soros helped Elsztain gain control of Cresud, a leading landowner of prime pampas agricultural land, and served as his partner in the firm for many years.
Losses stemming from the economic crisis that began in 1998 led the Soros Fund Management to divest most of its IRSA interests by late 1999.
[6] In addition to Soros, Elsztain has also worked closely with U.S. real estate magnate Sam Zell, U.S. investment fund honcho Michael Steinhardt, and Hollywood mogul Edgar Bronfman.
[8] His close friends and business partners have included Clarisa Lifsic, who chairs Banco Hipotecario, and Saúl Zang, the lawyer for his companies.
[7] The strong recovery in the Argentine economy after 2002 then fostered growth into the mortgage-lending sector, with the purchase of 28% of the formerly state owned Banco Hipotecario, and among its shopping centers, which, as the source of half of IRSA's revenues, boosted the firm's income; in 2008, it developed Dot Baires, a 190,000m² (2 million ft²) shopping center and the largest building of its kind in Argentina.
[7] In addition, he owns the Iaacob House Hostel in Buenos Aires, which "offers Israeli travelers lodgings in the capital at a fair price − as long as they comply with the policy of segregated rooms for men and women.
He has served as an Executive Officer of Golden Minerals Company and as President of IRSA Investments and Representations Inc.[1] La Nación noted in 2005 that while Elsztain, at that time, enjoyed a considerable "degree of recognition and influence...internationally," he keeps a "low profile" in Argentina.
In the center of the city, Elsztain saw the potential in the ravaged Abasto de Buenos Aires building, a wholesale market that stood empty and mice-infested.
Another example is Isla Demarchi, where Elsztain was one of the parties behind the construction of a commercial and office complex on an artificial island that extended the area of Buenos Aires into the Río de la Plata.
Today Cresud owns 23 million square meters of land and "focuses on acquiring grain and cattle farms, and on milk production."
[19] IDB is the largest corporation in Israel,[20] with interests in finance, insurance, real estate development, manufacturing, and telecommunications, including controlling shares in Cellcom and Super-Sol, and has assets totaling $35 billion.
[21] According to Haaretz, Elsztain was "the only one willing to invest in Ganden...Everyone else, it seems, is demanding that Dankner pay the price for his irresponsible financial conduct, which has seen IDB and its pyramid of companies engulfed in debt.
Judge Eitan Orenstein, reported Jerusalem Online, "rejected the claims of Nochi Dankner, who tried to convince the court that the transfer of control of the giant holding company from his hands was tainted by a conflict of interests.
The judge approved the creditors' arrangement and determined that for now Eduardo Elsztain and Moti Ben-Moshe control the country's largest corporation.
[4] Close to leading American Jewish executive Edgar Bronfman, he was named Treasurer of the WJC in 2005, and then served as chairman of its Governing Board (the group's second-highest post) from 2009 to 2013.
[23] Elsztain currently serves on the Board of Directors of Endeavor, an international non-profit development organization that finds and supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
[1] He is a member of Argentine Enterprise Association (AEA), of the Board of Directors of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, and of the Group of 50, and he has attended the G20 Business Summits.
His business entities receive financial subsidies from ANSES, the Argentine government's social insurance agency, through an affordable home mortgage program called PRO.CRE.AR (Programa Crédito Argentino).
[8] In August 2012, Elzstain began building a large shopping mall, Distrito Arcos, in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires, without applying for authorization from the city's legislature or going through any of the legal steps necessary for construction projects.
Elsztain later said in a radio interview that the meeting was "amazing" and "better than we expected," and praised Chávez's willingness to listen to the concerns of the Jewish community was "remarkable."
Venezuelan Jews were critical of this verdict, however, with former Culture Minister Paulina Gamus complaining that the meeting had come during an election campaign and had made it seem as if Chávez had received the imprimatur of the Jewish community.