Martin Geller

The Sy Syms Business Honors and Entrepreneurial Leadership Program hosted a fireside chat on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, with Martin Geller, founder of Geller & Company, and a minority owner of the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. The event took place high above Amsterdam Avenue at the Sky Café in Belfer Hall and was moderated by Dr. S. Abraham Ravid, professor of finance and chair of the finance department at Sy Syms, with Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University, in the audience. The interview began with a question about the degree to which being a child of Holocaust survivors affected his personal and professional lives, his investment style and his philanthropic career? Geller recalled that when he met with survivors and “saw the people with numbers on their arms, heard the conversations, tried to imagine what it was like for them to survive, read about the history and am still trying to understand where was the world, where were the American Jews – I think this provokes in us the desire to give back, especially now with the Ukrainian war going on.” In terms of his philanthropy, “I find myself drawn to organizations that keep people safe.” In terms of his investment style, “this kind of background, personal history, with people who had to survive, who had to worry about money, makes a person conservative. I don’t want to leave equity on the table, I want to make sure that people don’t run out of money, that they’re able to achieve their goals.” In a way, as he pointed out, “I really believe it’s God’s money, and I really believe that being a child of survivors, there’s a reason why my parents survived and created me, and I want to able to say that in my life I was a good custodian of people’s money.” When asked about his investment style when it comes to managing money for private wealth clients, not foundations, he noted that “it’s very much on an individualized basis: it really depends on the people. We end up annoying people at the beginning because we have these questionnaires that really try to understand their objectives and find their risk tolerance and find a strategy that works for them, whether that is putting money in indices and risk-free assets or going into venture capital and other much riskier investments.” Did the pandemic affected his business? “When we studied the metrics, we found that we operated well remotely, which meant that we didn’t have to put our people at risk by having them come in to the office.” However, over the last six to nine months, he believes that productivity has leveled off: “We don’t know if it’s burnout or not having contact with each other. However, we have still supported people with benefits – again, this also comes from a Holocaust background – such as health insurance, wellness programs, volunteer opportunities. And we’re trying to figure out a new model – two or three days a week, perhaps. But we always promote an office culture that, while it values hard work and productivity, also wants to make sure there is time to take care of other important aspects of one’s life.” When Dr. Ravid congratulated him on making his employees feel valued “because if they don’t feel valued, they won’t work at 100% for you,” Geller replied that “we don’t use the word ‘employees’ – we want people to feel like owners. I believe that the more you share, the more the more you get back.” Shifting from investment to sports, Dr. Ravid – an authority on entertainment economics – wanted to know how he got into investing in sports and how that business model is working? Geller observed that he had always “an emotional connection to the 76ers from high school days,” but as with any investment, he did his due diligence, especially applying the lessons he had drawn from his Holocaust survivor background. In the end he got “the best of both worlds: I’ve had a blast and I’ve got a good investment. I just pinch myself.” About his involvement in politics, he observed that one of the outcomes for his parents of being survivors was that “my parents were totally grateful that America rescued them and adopted them. So, that made me very oriented toward giving back and working in politics. And while I did some work with Board of Education, AIPAC really pushed the button, the integration of America and Israel. And working on the Michael Bloomberg campaign was instructive in so many ways.” In the Q&A that followed, Dr. Berman, noting that “there is so much that is special that you have to offer the students of Yeshiva University about combining values and thinking about the quality of life and faith,” wanted to know how important prayer was “throughout the high times and low times.” “I wake up every day and pray,” said Geller, “and as preparation for that, I do an exercise where I take whatever is annoying and put that it on a boat, and I visualize myself rowing the boat to a place where I put whatever that thing is out of the boat. And then I feel cleansed. In your career, it’s important to acknowledge your Jewish identity and make time for your family. And always try to focus on relationships and find people who really care about you and whatever you do.” Geller & Company provides individuals, families, business owners, institutions and nonprofits with strategic financial advisory and wealth management services. Geller is a board member of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Industry Group and is active in the greater New York business community. He is a partner of the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment company whose assets include the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center. Geller serves on multiple nonprofit boards, including the American Israel Education Foundation, the Northeast Regional Council for the National Parks Conservation Association and the Northeast Regional Leadership Cabinet of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is a former member of the advisory board of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City in 2003–2013.