Since 2017, he has been the chairman of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), a Geneva-based foundation established by France and the United Arab Emirates.
Kaplan had impressed Tiomkin by correctly predicting Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait several years before it took place.
[5] Inspired by Marc Faber, who held that precious metals were insurance against the "monetary foolishness" of central governments, Kaplan focused on natural resources investing.
[7] While he was chairman and chief executive officer of Apex, his team discovered and financed the mining of the San Cristobal deposit in Bolivia.
[29] Minerva in her Study and Bust of a Bearded Man were among 35 pictures lent to the Hermitage Amsterdam for an exhibition of Leiden Collection works in early 2023.
[54] In 2018, along with French philosopher and activist Bernard-Henri Lévy, Kaplan co-founded Justice for Kurds (JFK), a New York-based, not-for-profit advocacy group that seeks to educate and raise public awareness about the Kurdish cause in the U.S. and globally.
[57] Kaplan, along with Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, contributed three-quarters of the 1.7 million dollar revenue of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) in 2013.
[58] In 2017 Kaplan gave a speech at a conference for the organization in which he compared Iran to a reticulated python devouring a goat as well as saying that the Iranian government because of their Shiite Muslim beliefs "pursue a strategy of 'taqiyya', or religious dissimulation" to conceal its imperial aims.
[59] Kaplan served as president (2009–2012) and chairman of the board of directors (2012–2015) of the 92nd Street Y, a prominent Jewish community and cultural center in New York City.
[68] In 2017, Kaplan became the chairman of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), a Geneva-based foundation dedicated to the implementation of preventive, emergency response, and restoration programs for cultural property in danger of destruction, damage or looting.
A joint initiative of the governments of France and the United Arab Emirates, its board of directors includes representatives of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, China, international institutions, and private donors.
"[78] Kaplan and his wife Dafna helped establish a felid conservation program at Oxford University in collaboration with David MacDonald.
[80] The Kaplans also founded the Orianne Society, focused on the conservation of the eastern indigo snake and its habitat, the last remaining long-leaf pine forests of the Southeastern United States.
[82] In October 2017, the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), a conservation organization based in Iran, severed ties with Panthera in response to the 2017 UANI speech Kaplan had made about the Iranian government.
“We are very sorry to see personal politics have a negative impact on conservation, but these are unusual times.” The activists ended up getting arrested by the Iranian government under charges of treason, though they have maintained their innocence since.
"[86] In March 2014, Kaplan was awarded the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur of France, the country's highest civilian distinction.
In presenting the decoration, the French Ambassador to the United States, François Delattre, said of Kaplan: "Through your multifaceted life and your support for an incredible array of causes, I believe you are the very definition of a game changer and Renaissance man - a young Renaissance man: as Chairman of the Y, as an environmentalist in Brazil, as an entrepreneur, a historian, a philanthropist, an art collector and a politically engaged individual.
[4] In September 2018, Kaplan was awarded the rank of Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his efforts in disseminating Dutch culture and building bridges between people through art.
Renée Jones-Bos, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Russia, presented the distinction to Kaplan in the Saint Petersburg office of Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage Museum.