Izak Parviz Nazarian

Izak Parviz Nazarian ( Is'ḥaq Parvêz Nazariyân; February 24, 1929 – August 23, 2017) was an Iranian-born American billionaire, businessman, investor, real-estate developer, and philanthropist. He was the managing partner of Omninet Capital, an investment vehicle and the first major investor in Qualcomm.

Early life Nazarian was born to a Persian-Jewish family in 1929 in Tehran, Iran. His father died when he was five years old. His mother opened a sewing shop. He grew up in Tehran, where he was educated at the Alliance Israelite Universal Elementary School and the Technical High School. He was also the chair of Stadco, "a leading producer of high-precision tooling and parts for the aerospace industry." Once in the United States, he worked with Armand Hammer to help Soviet Jews emigrate to Israel in the 1980s. Moreover, he was recognized as one of four "philanthropic visionaries" alongside Guilford Glazer, Jona Goldrich and Max Webb by the American Friends of Tel Aviv University at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in 2013.

In 2003, Nazarian founded the Citizens Empowerment Center in Israel (CECI), a non-partisan organization which promotes election reform in Israel. In 2009, he published an opinion piece entitled 'Israel must address flawed electoral system' in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Personal life and death Nazarian and his wife, Pouran,