Steven Roth

Steven Roth (born 1941) is an American real estate investor, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, the largest commercial landlord in New York City. He is also co-founder and managing general partner of Interstate Properties, and chairman and chief executive officer of Alexander's.

Early life and education Roth was born to a Jewish family, the son of Fred and Virginia Roth. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. In 1962, Roth graduated with an B.A. from Dartmouth College and in 1963, he graduated with a M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Career In 1964, with $250,000 in seed money from real estate investor David Mandelbaum, he formed Interstate Properties, a three-person partnership (Roth, Mandelbaum, and Russell Wight Jr.) tasked with purchasing, renovating, and leasing shopping centers with Roth as managing partner. He repaid Mandelbaum within a year. In 1979, Interstate purchased an interest in the New Jersey discount appliance chain, Two Guys and later gained control of its parent company Vornado, a former fan manufacturer (purchased by Two Guys in 1959 to utilize its tax loss carryforwards) and in 1980, he founded the New York-based real estate investment trust Vornado Realty Trust.

In the 1980s, Donald Trump bought the West Side Yards, an abandoned railroad yard along the Hudson River in midtown Manhattan, but in the 1990s was forced by his bankers to sell 70% to a group of Hong Kong investors. They developed the site, then sold it in 2005, spending the proceeds on 1290 Sixth Avenue and a San Francisco skyscraper, with Trump receiving 30% ownership of both. The Hong Kong investors then sold their share to Roth, making Roth and Trump business partners.

In 1997, marking its first major acquisition outside of strip malls, Vornado purchased seven Midtown office buildings with 4 million square feet from Bernard H. Mendik for $656 million. In 1998, they purchased 20 more office buildings in Manhattan for $1.7 billion, including One Penn Plaza. and with Jared Kushner, Kushner's father and the Kushner family's real estate business. Jared announced sale of his interests to his family when accepting a senior Trump White House appointment in January 2017. Vornado's involvement with the Kushner family in 666 Fifth Avenue continued as of March 2017. Trump and Roth also co-own 1290 Sixth Avenue, an office tower containing 2.1 million square feet office. Trump owns 30%, while Roth owns 30%. It is the second largest property in Vornado's New York portfolio.

In July 2017, Roth advised U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao not to cancel construction of the Gateway Project, which would link New Jersey with Penn Station in Manhattan. Vornado is one of the three firms that are turning the old Farley Post Office building in New York into Moynihan Station, an expansion of Penn Station.

Roth has served as a trustee of the Intrepid Museum Foundation, He served as one of the top economic advisers to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in 2016 and was included in a March 2017 White House meeting on the Trump Administration infrastructure plan. Roth was present at Trump headquarters on April 20, 2016, when Trump gave a speech celebrating his victory in multiple GOP primaries. Also present, and thanked by Trump, were Carl Icahn, Howard Lorber, and Bennett LeBow. But Roth won the lion's share of Trump's praise. In 2026, Roth likened "tax-the-rich" rhetoric to "disgusting racial slurs."

The Roth Center for Jewish Life In 1997, Roth contributed $1.1 million in funding for the eponyomus Roth Center for Jewish Life at Dartmouth.

Honors and awards In 2012, Roth received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Dartmouth. (née Atkins) who is also Jewish. They have two children: Jordan Roth (born 1975), who is the former owner of Jujamcyn Theaters; and Amanda Roth Salzhauer.

In August 2017, Roth had heart bypass surgery. After a brief medical leave, he returned to Vornado, saying to investors, “I’m not quite done yet.”