Eduardo Elsztain

Eduardo Sergio Elsztain (born January 26, 1960) is an Argentine businessman involved in the real estate, financial, technology, and agribusiness sectors.

He is the chairman of Inversiones y Representaciones S.A. (IRSA), Argentina's largest real estate company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange; of Cresud, a leading agri-business company that operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay and is listed on the NASDAQ; of BrasilAgro (Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas), which is also on the NYSE; and of the public–private partnership Banco Hipotecario, Argentina's leading mortgage bank in which Elsztain is the largest private shareholder.

Early life and education

His father was a physician and his mother a schoolteacher.

His paternal grandfather, Isaac Elsztain, was born in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in the historic region known as Lesser Poland. Isaac emigrated to Argentina in 1917 and owned a general store in Las Lomitas, Formosa Province, where he had three children. The family settled permanently in Buenos Aires in 1950, where Isaac Elsztain turned to real estate development.

He completed his primary education at the Instituto Renard in Buenos Aires. In 1980, he undertook volunteer work and leadership courses in Jerusalem.

Elsztain has been married since 1991 to Mariana Carmona, with whom he has four children. His brother, Alejandro G. Elsztain, has served as CEO of Cresud since 1994.

His maternal grandfather, León, instilled in him Jewish traditions. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch, advised him to direct his investments toward real estate development. Within four years Elsztain had raised $110 million and acquired "office buildings and shopping centers in Argentina, including the Alto Palermo Shopping Mall." 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. In total, Elsztain worked for over a decade with Soros. 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. His close friends and business partners have included Clarisa Lifsic, who chairs Banco Hipotecario, and Saúl Zang, the lawyer for his companies.

IRSA shares are listed on Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA) and, since 1994, on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Elsztain reportedly "did a good job of exploiting the real estate boom in Argentina" from 2006-2010. During this period IRSA's share price rose 155 percent and the firm came to be worth more than half a billion dollars. Between July 2011 and July 2012, IRSA netted $61 million. and in November 2010 increased his stake to 49%. and after 28 years of development, in 2024 obtained the necessary approvals to develop Ramblas del Plata, an urban development project featuring a waterfront promenade with direct access to the Río de la Plata, a large park, and proximity to Ministro Pistarini International Airport. By 2025, the project had sold fifteen buildings and committed 17 of the 20 lots corresponding to its first development phase to various local developers.

According to Haaretz, "IRSA's major enterprises have relied on Elsztain's ability to spot the potential in dilapidated properties and renovate them. In the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires − an entire neighborhood that was built on the ruins of the city's old docks − IRSA built commercial and office space. 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. Retaining its historic facade, he built the Abasto Shopping Center over the foundations. 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." In addition to its holdings in IRSA, Cresud holds 36 percent of BrasilAgro, which operates in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. BrasilArgo controls APSA, a Buenos Aires real-estate company that is traded on the stock exchange and that is valued at $50 million. Cresud also holds 30 percent of Argentina's largest mortgage bank, Banco Hipotecario.

Other investments

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. As of 2005, Elsztain's brother Alejandro was managing IRSA and Cresud, his brother Daniel was in charge of the malls, and their cousin Fernando was managing the real estate. In 2010, IRSA bought 11 percent of Hersha Hospitality Trust, which owns 77 U.S. hotels. As of 2012, IRSA owned 2000 hotel rooms in New York City.

Elzstain owns the Llao Llao Hotel in the tourist resort of San Carlos de Bariloche in Río Negro Province, Argentina. He also owns property on the resort island of Isla Victoria in Lake Nahuel Huapi. According to one source, "IRSA is recognized worldwide as the Argentina company that ensures the best business in real estate." at the time, Ganden owned a 45.87% stake in the company. IDB is the largest corporation in Israel, 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.

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." In May 2013, he was elected a vice-president of the World Jewish Congress and became chairman of the new WJC Business Advisory Council.

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. He is also the President of Fundación IRSA and Museo de los Niños del Abasto. According to Elsztain, Chávez had expressed his disagreement with Holocaust denial and with positions advocating for the elimination of the State of Israel. The meeting was controversial, as former parliamentarian and former Minister of Culture Paulina Gamus stated that it constituted an ill-timed show of support for the Venezuelan leader.

Following the death of Néstor Kirchner in October 2010, the WJC and the Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC) issued a joint statement highlighting the former Argentine president's willingness to address the concerns of Jewish communities in the region, as well as his role as a mediator with other governments on their behalf, particularly in the aftermath of the AMIA bombing. As chairman of IRSA, Elsztain was received at the Casa Rosada by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in May 2008. In April 2013, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner visited flood victims in the Mitre neighborhood and announced she would call on Elsztain to address the situation at the Dot Baires Shopping center, an IRSA property whose facilities were being pointed to by local residents as a possible aggravating factor in the flooding. In February 2014, the DOT shopping center opened a reservoir to prevent future flooding.

During his visit to Argentina in March 2016, then-President of the United States Barack Obama stayed at one of the hotels belonging to the IRSA holding company. Elsztain stated that this was a sign of Argentina's return to the international stage after years of financial isolation. Elsztain organizes the annual Llao Llao Forum, a gathering of business and political leaders held at the hotel of the same name in Bariloche. Former President of Chile Sebastián Piñera attended the Forum in 2015. Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri participated in the 2022 edition. In 2024, speakers included President of Paraguay Santiago Peña and President of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou. In April 2023, Elsztain met Javier Milei at the Llao Llao Forum. Following Milei's inauguration as president in December 2023, Elsztain co-signed, along with other business leaders affiliated with the Argentine Business Association, a statement of support for the incoming administration.

Controversy Panama Papers Elsztain is listed in the Panama Papers documents as the owner of companies and trusts in Bermuda and the Isle of Man. To date, the investigation has not yet had a judicial resolution.

Lobbying Due to irregularities in the privatization of the Mortgage Bank in 1997, he was charged along with Daniel Marx, the former Minister of Economy Roque Fernández and other officials for the alleged commission of the crimes of illicit association, fraud against the public administration, usury, abuse of authority and violation of the duties of an official, passive bribery and influence peddling, embezzlement, embezzlement, negotiations incompatible with the exercise of public office, fraud against commerce and industry. Currently, no judicial outcome or significant progress in the investigation has been reported.