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About
Roger Hertog, born on July 5, 1941, in the Bronx, New York City, is an American billionaire businessman, financier, investor, and major conservative philanthropic donor. Beginning his career at Oppenheimer and Company while attending City College of New York at night, he co-founded Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in 1968 alongside Zalman Bernstein. Hertog rose to become president, chairman, and CEO, leading the firm's significant growth in investment research and management. After the 2000 merger that formed AllianceBernstein, he served as vice chairman and president until retiring in 2005.
Following his retirement from active business, Hertog focused on philanthropy supporting conservative and neoconservative causes, pro-Israel and Zionist advocacy, Jewish thought, education reform, and policy research. He is president of the Hertog Foundation, which funds fellowships and programs in political theory, history, economics, classical education, and historical preservation. As chairman of the Tikvah Fund, he promotes Jewish intellectual life through seminars and publications. Hertog is an emeritus board member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the former chairman and chairman emeritus of the Manhattan Institute, which he co-founded. He also serves on multiple conservative boards and is a major donor to right-wing think tanks and media outlets.
In the 1990s, he co-launched one of the first privately funded school voucher programs, providing thousands of scholarships annually to low-income families, and has invested in New York's Success Charter Network and Families for Excellent Schools, also funding research on the charter school movement. Hertog is known for his extensive philanthropy advancing neoconservative, pro-Israel, and Zionist agendas, reflecting his ideological commitments and making him a prominent figure in finance, education, and conservative Jewish networks of influence.