Izak Parviz Nazarian
| Izak Parviz Nazarian | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1929 Tehran, Iran |
| Residence | Beverly Hills, California |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Managing Partner of Omninet Capital |
| Net worth | $18 billion |
| Spouse(s) | Pouran Nazarian |
| Children | Benjamin Nazarian Dora Nazarian Dalia Nazarian Daphna Nazarian |
| Relatives |
Younes Nazarian (brother) Neil Kadisha (son-in-law) Sam Nazarian (nephew) |
| Website | Omninet.com |
Izak Parviz Nazarian (born 1929) is an Iranian-American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is a Managing Partner of Omninet Capital, an investment vehicle.
Izak Parviz Nazarian was born to a Persian Jewish family in Tehran, Iran. His father died when he was five years old. His mother opened a sewing shop. He has a brother, Younes Nazarian. He grew up in Tehran, where he was educated at the Alliance Israelite Universal Elementary School and the Technical High School. In 1943, in the midst of World War II, he worked as a waiter's assistant on a United States Army base in Iran.
At the age of eighteen, he moved to Italy, where he became a member of the Haganah in Genoa in 1947. On 17 May 1948, three days after Israel had become an independent nation, he moved to Israel, where he served in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War as a member of the 7th Armored Brigade. He was wounded in a mining explosion and stayed in hospital for five months. Unable to fight, he resumed his service in the Israel Defense Forces and became Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir's chauffeur.
Nazarian started a gravel transportation business shortly after his service with the IDF. He acquired trucks and hired drivers to move gravel to construction sites in Israel. He also owned a cement factory in Yarka. He returned to Iran in 1957, where he expanded his construction business and oversaw the construction of many government buildings. He enjoyed close ties with the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, his name was on the kill list. He went into exile in the United States, settling in Los Angeles. By 1985, he co-founded Omninet with Irwin M. Jacobs and Andrew Viterbi, initially to track the flow of trucks from one construction site to another. The start-up, which merged with Qualcomm, has become one of the world's largest chipmakers. As Nazarian is a major shareholder, he has become a billionaire.
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