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 sons moved to Buenos Aires to attend secondary school at a boarding institution. The family settled permanently in Buenos Aires in 1950, where Isaac Elsztain turned to real estate development.In 1973, Isaac Elsztain purchased a property in the department of Rivadavia, Salta Province, where he developed the Los Pozos ranch, which has belonged to Cresud since 1995.
He completed his primary education at the Instituto Renard in Buenos Aires. He attended secondary school at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, graduating in 1978. In 1980, he undertook volunteer work and leadership courses in Jerusalem.He studied medicine and economics at the University of Buenos Aires, but did not complete his degrees, choosing instead to focus on his business career.
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. A devout Jew, Elsztain built a synagogue next door to his home. His sister lives in Israel. Elsztain is a follower of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Career IRSA His business mentor was Peter Gruber, a former shareholder of IRSA and manager of the Templeton fund, whom he met in 1984.Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch, advised him to direct his investments toward real estate development.
Elsztain lived in New York in 1989-90. During that period, in 1990, he "talked his way into a meeting with the legendary investor George Soros," according to Haaretz. Another source states that Elsztain met Soros "through contacts...in the Jewish community in Buenos Aires." In any event, Soros "was persuaded to let the ambitious young man manage $10 million for him," which Elsztain did "with great success." Speaking to The Jerusalem Post in 2013, Elsztain himself described "the moment...that changed his career" as follows: "I somehow managed to land a meeting with George Soros, a very rich man. We talked for an hour or so, and then he asked me how much money I thought I could handle. I told him I could manage $10 million, and he said 'Okay, no problem!'" Soros told the Post that Elsztain, despite his youth and inexperience, "knew when to sell and when to buy." This encounter precipitated Elsztain's quick "leap from utter anonymity to Argentina's business elite." Soros became a leading investor in IRSA. The partnership with Soros became profitable for both parties, as the Argentine economy recovered during the 1990s from the severe stagflation of the previous decade. Within four years Elsztain had raised $110 million and acquired "office buildings and shopping centers in Argentina, including the Alto Palermo Shopping Mall." Elsztain's meeting with Soros has been described as the turning point in his career. He has been called "Soros' golden boy." 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. IRSA entered the international equity markets with Soros's backing in 1994. Losses stemming from the economic crisis that began in 1998 led the Soros Fund Management to divest most of its IRSA interests by late 1999. 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.
Elsztain acquired IRSA in June 1991.
IRSA shares are listed on Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA) and, since 1994, on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The company is engaged in the ownership, development, and management of shopping centers, office buildings, hotels, convention centers, and other commercial properties in Argentina.
IRSA became a leading local real-estate development firm during the 1990s, purchasing 13 up-market Buenos Aires office buildings and a leading local shopping-mall developer, Alto Palermo S.A. (APSA). Through APSA, the group purchased important tourist assets such as the Llao Llao Hotel, a Bariloche mountain resort privatized in 1997, and a number of shopping malls, including Abasto Shopping (Buenos Aires), Alto Avellaneda (Avellaneda), Alto NOA (Salta), Alto Rosario (Rosario), Buenos Aires Design (Buenos Aires), Shopping Córdoba (Córdoba), Dot Baires Shopping (Buenos Aires), Mendoza Plaza (Mendoza), Paseo Alcorta (Buenos Aires), Patio Bullrich (Buenos Aires), Patio Olmos (Córdoba), Soleil Factory (Boulogne). The Dot Baires shopping mall in Buenos Aires is the largest in Argentina. Alto Palermo SA also has a subsidiary, Tarshop SA, that issues a credit card, Tarjeta Shopping. IRSA now holds 12 percent of Tarshop. It also owns 10 percent of the Argentine real estate firm TGLT.
The strong recovery in the Argentine economy after 2002 then fostered growth into the mortgage-lending sector, with the purchase of 28% of the formerly state owned Banco Hipotecario, and among its shopping centers, which, as the source of half of IRSA's revenues, boosted the firm's income; in 2008, it developed Dot Baires, a 190,000m² (2 million ft²) shopping center and the largest building of its kind in Argentina. 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. IRSA now owns most of the shopping malls in Argentina, and also several iconic buildings and hotels
IRSA bought 30% of New York's Lipstick Building (885 Third Avenue) in 2007, and in November 2010 increased his stake to 49%. His close friend Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto "reportedly brokered the deal in which Elsztain bought the Lipstick Building in Manhattan from Ilan Ben Dov, as a result of which Elsztain became the partner of another businessman close to Pinto − Jacky Ben Zaken." It was also Pinto who arranged for him to meet Nochi Dankner and who mediated discussions of the Ganden acquisition of Israel's IDB Group.
Among the real estate projects developed by Elsztain is the redevelopment of the former Boca Juniors training facility in the Nueva Pompeya neighborhood. In 1997, through IRSA, he acquired the 22-hectare (54-acre) site 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."
Cresud
He is Chairman and a Member of the Executive Committee of Cresud, titles he has held since 1994. He is Chairman and President of the Executive Committee of Alto Palermo S.A., titles he has held since 1994. He is Chairman and Director of Banco Hipotecario SA (of which he has also served as Vice Chairman), titles he has held since 1999. He is also the Chairman of the Board and a Director of Brasilagro Companhia Brasileira de Propriedades Agrícolas. He owns IRSA, Cresud, and Hipotecario through his holding company IFISA. Today Elsztain controls Cresud, of which he owns 38 percent, and owns 65 percent of IRSA through Cresud.As of 2013, Cresud was trading on NASDAQ at a value of $370 million. "Except for its holdings in IRSA," according to Haaretz, Cresud "is an agriculture business of only moderate profitability." Today Cresud owns 23 million square meters of land and "focuses on acquiring grain and cattle farms, and on milk production." During the first decade of the 21st century it was named Argentina's largest meat and grain manufacturer, but it has since sold off some of its farms.
Elsztain is one of Argentina's leading owner of cereal and soy fields and an influential member of the country's four rural organizations, Sociedad Rural, Federación Agraria Argentina, Confederaciones Rurales Argentinas, and Coninagro. 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.
Elsztain was a Trustee and Member of Acquisition Committee of Hersha Hospitality Trust from 2009 to 2011, and a Trustee of Hersha Hospitality Trust from August 2009 to September 12, 2011. He has served as an Executive Officer of Golden Minerals Company and as President of IRSA Investments and Representations Inc.
As of September 2012, Elsztain had purchased several businesses in Brazil and, more recently, in Israel and the United States. 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.