Michael W. Sonnenfeldt

FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN

Michael W. Sonnenfeldt is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. In the 1980s, he conceived and initiated the Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City, NJ, the world's then-largest commercial renovation. He subsequently founded and led Emmes & Company, a real estate investment boutique specializing in buying distressed portfolios. He has decades of experience in the renewable energy sector, beginning with a solar company he built, SOL, which was eventually sold to Carmanah Technologies Corp., a public Canadian company that manufactures and distributes solar products and systems. Following his entrepreneurial success, Michael founded Tiger 21, the premier learning and investment network for high-net-worth individuals, creating a forum to discuss his shifting priorities of family, legacy, and investment with peers. Today, TIGER 21 operates across 9 countries and in 46 major cities with 1,700 members who collectively manage over $230 billion of personal investable assets.

Sonnenfeldt earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in management from MIT, and has spent decades involved in nonprofit leadership focused on climate, national security, and international development. The Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Foundation, which Michael founded with his wife Katja Goldman has underwritten major academic initiatives in environmental sustainability including the Goldman Sonnenfeldt Environmental Protection Clinic at Yale Law School and the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben Gurion University. Sonnenfeldt also co-chairs the Jewish Climate Trust, sits on the board of the Center for a New American Security, and is co-founder of the national Japanese craft award hosted by JapanCraft21.

A designer and collector, Michael owns the MUUS Collection, a leading archive of historical photography. He is usually found wearing clothes of his own design, and when able he prefers to be sailing.