Steven Charles Witkoff (born March 15, 1957) is an American billionaire real estate investor, lawyer, and philanthropist who serves as the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East.

[8][9] In November 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that: "Peers in the real-estate world invariably describe Witkoff ... as smart, personable and a talented negotiator with a common touch.

[1] In 1996, he secured financing from Credit Suisse First Boston for the purchase of 33 Maiden Lane, a 27-story tower designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee; the following year, he leased the top 13 floors of the building to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for a 25-year term.

[17][1] A close relationship with Credit Suisse First Boston soon developed, and Witkoff purchased additional properties—typically using very little of his own money—including the landmark Daily News Building in the East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan, designed by architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells.

[1] By October 1998, the Witkoff Group operated 11 million square feet of commercial and retail real estate, and held an ownership interest in 7,500 apartments and a number of land and hotel development transactions.

[20] That year, Witkoff and Fisher Brothers also purchased a parcel of land in Tribeca in Manhattan for $223 million on which they built a 792-foot high residential tower, 111 Murray Street.

[24] The original name was reinstated, and the hotel opened in December 2023, having been developed at a cost of $3.7 billion, making it the second-most-expensive resort in Las Vegas.

On November 9, 2024, Witkoff was chosen to be co-chair of the Presidential Inaugural Committee for Trump's upcoming second presidency, along with former US Senator Kelly Loeffler.

[36][37][38] His blunt, direct and aggressive negotiation style was instrumental in forging a six-week ceasefire agreement, during which there would be a swap of 33 Hamas-held hostages taken in the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel for approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom were serving life sentences for murder, and steps toward further exchanges and ending a prolonged 15-month war.

[36][38] Witkoff's approach differed from traditional diplomatic methods, as he, joined by McGurk on speakerphone from Qatar, applied pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finalize the deal, stressing that Trump wanted the deal done, achieving in the final weeks what had been in negotiation for nearly a year.

Rarely if ever have teams of current and new presidents of different parties worked together at such a high-stakes moment, with the fate of American lives and the future of a devastating war hanging in the balance.

[6] In 2011, their 22-year-old son Andrew died of an OxyContin overdose at the now-closed Sunset Plaza Drive sober living facility in California.