Jack Benaroya
Jack A. Benaroya (July 11, 1921 – May 11, 2012) was a pioneering real estate developer who built what became the Northwest’s largest privately-held commercial real-estate empire which he sold in 1984 for $315 million. After selling his company, he became a venture capitalist and was an early investor in Starbucks. He was noted more for being a philanthropist and prominent civic leader in Seattle, Washington. Biography
Benaroya was born to Lebanese Jewish immigrants in Montgomery, Alabama but spent his childhood in California before moving to Seattle at the age of 12. Benaroya attended Seattle's Garfield High School. After graduating, he took a job at his family's beer distributorship and then went on to serve with the United States Navy in the Philippines during World War II. Upon his return, he became involved in real estate by building post offices in the region which was experiencing a post-war boom; however, his fortune was earned by building industrial parks, a concept not yet seen in the northwestern United States. In 1956, Benaroya established the Benaroya Company which would become the largest commercial real estate developer in the state of Washington. In 1984, he sold his real estate portfolio for $315 million shifting the focus of the company to venture capital. Benaroya was an early investor in Starbucks. Philanthropy
Benaroya was a former director of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce; the United Way of King County; Temple de Hirsch Sinai; Congregation Ezra Bessaroth; the Stroum Jewish Community Center; and the Pilchuck Glass School. He was a supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International (JDRF); the University of Washington Medical Center; Children's Hospital and Medical Center; Lakeside School; and the Jewish Federation and Council of Seattle. He funded the Benaroya Hall, facility for the Seattle Symphony which opened in 1998; and the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle which opened in 1999. An endowned chair in Israel Studies had been created in his and his wife’s name at the University of Washington, Seattle. In February 2022, it was reported that the endownment was pulled back after the holder of the endowned chair, Prof. Liora Halperin made statements that the Benaroya family disagreed with. UW returning the donation was widely criticized as a dangerous precedent for donor intervention in academia. https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2022/02/28/letter-to-the-president-of-the-university-of-washington

Personal life and death
Benaroya was married to his wife Rebecca for over seventy years. They had three children: Donna Benaroya, Alan Benaroya, and Larry Benaroya. In the years before his death, Benaroya was slowed by Parkinson's disease. He died on May 11, 2012. See also
Manning's Cafeterias

References

Notes
 Forbes, 27 October 1986. Seattle KingCounty Realtors: 1st Citizen Award Recipients
 Seattle Times Article, May 11, 2012: Philanthropist and developer Jack Benaroya has died

External links
Benaroya Research Institute  Retrieved 2006-11-12. The Benaroya Companies. Retrieved 2006-11-12. 1921 births
2012 deaths
Jewish American military personnel
American people of Lebanese-Jewish descent
American real estate businesspeople
Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Neurological disease deaths in the United States
Military personnel from Montgomery, Alabama
Businesspeople from Seattle
United States Navy personnel of World War II
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American philanthropists
21st-century American Jews