Person

S. Daniel Abraham

Born:

August 15, 1924

Nationality:

American

Occupation:

Businessman and philanthropist

Net Worth:

$2 Billion 1

References

  1. “Forbes  Billionaires 2020.” Forbes. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/.
Main Business:

Slim-Fast

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Daniel Abraham is an American businessman and philanthropist known for the Slim-Fast Line of diet products. In 2018, he was included on the Forbes list of the Top 400 Richest People in America. 1 2

Abraham is a major donor to the Democratic Party who has contributed millions of dollars to Democratic campaigns, aligned organizations, and super PACs, including the House Majority PAC, the Senate Majority PAC, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). 3

Family

Abraham is currently married to his second wife, Ewa Sebzda, with whom he has two children. He also has 4 adult female children from his first marriage, 4 27 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. 5

Career

Daniel Abraham was born in Long Beach, New York in 1924. In the 1940s, Abraham served in the U.S Army infantry corps during World War II. He developed an interest in the weight loss industry which led him to create Silm-Fast Foods, a largely successful weight loss and meal substitute company. 6 Before he sold the company, the diet shakes he introduced achieved sales of more than $610 million a year worldwide. In 2000, Abraham sold Slim-Fast Foods to Unilever for $2.3 billion. 7

Abraham received honorary doctorates from Yeshiva University, Ben-Gurion University, and Bar-Ilan University. 8 He has written two books: Peace is Possible, a collection of conversations with Israeli and Arab Leaders from 1988 onward, 9 and Everything is Possible, a collection of life and business lessons. 10

Philanthropy

Abraham is involved in several philanthropic causes in fields such as educational opportunities, nutrition, health care, and relations in the Middle East. His large contribution to the Mayo Clinic helped to create the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center, which opened in 2007. 11

He has funded various educational institutions and programs such as the Dan Abraham School for Business Administration and Economic at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College for Women and the S. Daniel Abraham Isreal Program at Yeshiva University. Abraham also has endowed the S. Daniel Abraham Chair in Nutritional Medicine at Harvard University Medical School and a Chair in Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University. 12

In 1989, Abraham and the late U.S. Representative Wayne Owens (D-UT) founded the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace which works towards resolutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict. 13

Political Activity

Abraham is a major donor to the Democratic party and the Clinton Foundation. In 2000, Abraham donated $1.3 million to Democrats and $1.5 million to Democratic causes. 14 He donated $3 million to support former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s presidential run in 2016. 15

In 2020, Abraham donated $1 million to the American Bridge 21st Century PAC, 16 a Democratic Party super PAC founded by David Brock. 17 He has donated a total of $1.1 million to the PAC between 2012 and 2019. 18 In 2020, Abraham also donated $750,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, 19 a super PAC established by Democratic strategists in order to help Democratic candidates win U.S. Senate races. 20 Abraham previously donated $1.25 million to the PAC in 2018, $500,000 in 2016, and $175,000 in 2012. 21

In 2020, Abraham donated another $1 million to the House Majority PAC, 22 which is a super PAC associated with Democratic leadership in the U.S House of Representatives who work to secure and maintain a Democratic majority in the House. 23 He donated $1,000,000 to that same super PAC in 2018 and gave $200,000 in both 2012 and 2014. 24

Abraham also donated $964,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) between 2003 and 2019. The DCCC is the official campaign arm of Democrats in the House of Representatives which works to elect Democrats to expand the Democratic majority. 25

Abraham donated a total of $501,200 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the principal party organ of the Democratic Party, between 2003 and 2020. 26 27 Abraham also donated $253,500 to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, a PAC supporting the reelection of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in 2020. 28

References

  1. Rose, Lacey. “America’s Most Famous Diet Gurus.” Forbes. Last modified April 5, 2005. https://www.forbes.com/2005/04/06/cx_lrlh_0406dietgurus.html?sh=4b64bf083720.
  2. “#1168 S. Daniel Abraham.” Forbes. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/profile/s-daniel-abraham/?sh=6cc1b3b8222f.
  3. Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham
  4. “Abraham, S. Daniel 1924-.” Encyclopedia.com | Free Online Encyclopedia. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/abraham-s-daniel-1924.
  5. “S.D. Abraham.” Harvard Kennedy School | Harvard Kennedy School. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/sd-abraham.
  6. “S. Daniel Abraham.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/s-daniel-abraham.
  7. Rose, Lacey. “America’s Most Famous Diet Gurus.” Forbes. Last modified April 5, 2005. https://www.forbes.com/2005/04/06/cx_lrlh_0406dietgurus.html?sh=4b64bf083720.
  8. “S. Daniel Abraham, Chairman.” S. Daniel Abraham Center for Peace. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://centerpeace.org/about/staff/s-daniel-abraham/.
  9. “Peace Is Possible.” Google Books. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0SLqMh9PqMC&source=gbs_similarbooks.
  10. “Everything Is Possible.” Google Books. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://books.google.com/books?id=8C1DGANof6wC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
  11. “S. Daniel Abraham, Chairman.” S. Daniel Abraham Center for Peace. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://centerpeace.org/about/staff/s-daniel-abraham/.
  12.  “S. Daniel Abraham, Chairman.” S. Daniel Abraham Center for Peace. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://centerpeace.org/about/staff/s-daniel-abraham/.
  13. “S. Daniel Abraham, Chairman.” S. Daniel Abraham Center for Peace. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://centerpeace.org/about/staff/s-daniel-abraham/.
  14. Dunbar, John, MaryJo Sylwester, and Robert Moore. “State Parties Collected Nearly $570 Million in Contributions, Soft Money Transfers in 2000 – Center for Public Integrity.” Center for Public Integrity. Last modified June 25, 2002. https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-parties-collected-nearly-570-million-in-contributions-soft-money-transfers-in-2000/.
  15. Iacob, Ivona. “The Top Donors Backing Hillary Clinton’s Super PAC.” Forbes. Last modified May 26, 2016. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ivonaiacob/2016/05/27/top-donors-hillary-clinton-superpac/?sh=1437d2d41051.
  16.  Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham.
  17. Brock, David . “Form 1, statement of organization.” FEC.gov. January 11, 2011. Accessed April 7, 2021. http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/705/11030534705/11030534705.pdf.
  18. Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021 https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00492140&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham
  19. Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham.
  20. “Our Mission.” Senate Majority PAC. Last modified February 12, 2021. https://www.senatemajority.com/about/.
  21. Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham.
  22. Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham.
  23. “Our Story.” House Majority PAC. Accessed April 1, 2021. https://www.thehousemajoritypac.com/about-us/our-story.
  24. “Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 14, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00495028&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham&two_year_transaction_period=2018&two_year_transaction_period=2020&two_year_transaction_period=2022
  25. “About.” DCCC. Last modified January 11, 2021. https://dccc.org/about/.
  26. Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021 https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00010603&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham
  27. “What We Do.” Democrats. Last modified July 17, 2019. https://democrats.org/who-we-are/what-we-do/.
  28. [1] Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed April 1, 2021.  https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=S.+Daniel+Abraham.
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