America's famous business brothers: Meet the Pruzans
The Koch brothers are the most powerful brothers in America today. The press loves to cover the Winklevoss and Emanuel brothers, and the Dodge brothers are having a renaissance thanks to a series of commercials focused on the automaker's 100-year anniversary.
Another set of brothers is having a moment, and a pretty big one: The Pruzans.
Jonathan Pruzan was named CFO at Morgan Stanley this week, news that largely got buried in the avalanche of coverage about Ruth Porat, who famously jumped from Wall Street to Silicon Valley (for a cool $70 million).
Jon is younger brother to Robert, whose boutique investment bank, Centerview Partners, served as the sole adviser to Kraft Foods on its blockbuster merger with Heinz. Centerview could earn as much as $97 million in fees from the deal, Reuters reports, citing consulting firm Freeman & Co.
Meanwhile, middle brother Michael is another Wall Street player. A former employee at Goldman Sachs and Soros Fund Management, Michael currently runs Parkstone Capital Partners, a nearly $500 million fund that focuses on distressed real-estate assets.
Don't feel too badly if you hadn't heard of the Pruzan brothers before this past week. Sons of a public school teacher and real estate consultant, the Pruzan brothers grew up in New York City and are classic examples of Manhattanites who've climbed to the highest rung of American society (mostly) out of the public eye. It's a reminder that you don't have to be famous to be successful, perhaps a quaint notion in this era of social-media obsession and "selfies."
Beyond their business success, the brothers Pruzan are active in philanthropy and educational endeavors.
Jon is Chairman of the New York branch of Summer Search, which mentors high school and college students, and a member of the Yeshiva University Museum.
Robert is on the boards of Wesleyan College, the Jewish Museum of New York, the Fieldston School and ArtsConnection, a New York-based not-for-profit that provides arts education to New York City public school children.
Speaking through a Morgan Stanley spokesman, Jon declined to comment for this article. Neither Robert nor Michael returned calls seeking comment.
Here's some other famous business brother duos, past and present.
The Koch Brothers:
Currently run by Charles and David Koch (pictured above) Koch Industries is one of the largest privately-owned companies in America. Along with Frederick and William, the brothers are also active in the Koch family foundations, which have a collective goal of "advancing liberty and freedom."
Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss:
Best known for claiming Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea and turned it into Facebook, the Winklevoss twins rowed on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and are currently venture capitalists with a taste for Bitcoin.
Ari, Ezekiel and Rahm Emanuel:
Rahm is Mayor of Chicago, former U.S. congressman and former White House chief of staff. Ari is co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor and Ezekiel is an oncologist and bioethicist at UPenn.
William, Lamar and Nelson Hunt:
In the late 1970s, William and Nelson Hunt nearly cornered the market in silver and made billions in the process. Their fortunes collapsed along with the silver market in the 1980s. In 1989, Nelson and William each agreed to pay $10 million in fines and were barred from trading by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Lamar was one of the founders of the American Football League and gave the Super Bowl its name.
Chico, Groucho, Gummo, Harpo and Zeppo Marx:
From vaudeville to radio to motion pictures, The Marx brothers were one of the most successful comedy teams of the first half of the 20th Century.
Orville and Wilbur Wright:
Some claim the Wright Brothers didn't truly invent powered flight, but it's fair to say they were instrumental in the development of the modern aviation industry of which Richard Branson reportedly said: "If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline."
Aaron Task is Editor-at-Large of Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter at @aarontask or email him at altask@yahoo.com.
