Dr. Alexander Rovt is a successful real estate investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. His current net worth is estimated at $1.3 billion. He owns more than fifty investment properties, focusing primarily on New York City real estate. His most noteworthy property is 14 Wall Street, which he purchased in 2012 for $303 million in an all-cash deal. Rovt has also expanded his holdings to include international investments in Austria, Ukraine, Hungary, and Canada.
Dr. Alexander Rovt was born in the town of Mukachevo, where he was raised by his parents. He graduated from the Lviv Trade and Economic Institute in 1973 with a degree in economics and went on to receive a Ph.D. in International Economics. Rovt has never bought a stock or bond, does not go into debt when making acquisitions, and prefers hard assets like real estate. Wanting to help others succeed, Dr. Alexander Rovt is a busy philanthropist.
I think that people underestimate the importance of sticking to your core values in your investment choices and the role that it plays in the success of your ventures. I think that it’s important not to take on debt and always make an investment for the right reasons. You can make a lot of money if you align your values, and you’ll always be able to sleep at night. I think that, in everything from business to politics, the people who lack a moral code often make poor choices and end up paying for it.
I also think that making outright purchases is very sound. You can’t really predict what will happen with someone else’s investment, but you know exactly where your own money is going and it gives you great control over the situation. If you always spend money in the right way, you can’t really go wrong. You’ll either make a profit or better yourself as a person. It’s much better than using debt to fuel your investment like many other people do these days. Not only will you lose out on making money but it could take years before you’re free of that debt; possibly even decades which is much too long in my opinion.
I also focus on hard assets like real estate rather than stocks and bonds. It’s much easier to see what’s going on when you hold an asset in your hand rather than watching numbers change inside a computer screen somewhere else in the world; it gives direct knowledge which is invaluable. If you’re looking for a sound investment, you should always go with things that are actually there rather than relying on your own ability to predict the future. I know that lots of people lose money by investing in stocks and bonds but I think that they don’t really understand what happens behind the scenes.
When you invest in something like real estate, it forces you to reflect on what really matters to you and how much money can actually buy. There are very few people who make tons of money from stocks or bonds because those markets are kind of unpredictable which means that they could go bust at any time; not something most people want to risk. But everyone knows exactly where their own real estate is and it allows them to use their money as they see fit without having some investment broker telling them what to do.
Currently, I am involved in many charities and am able to donate to a lot of worthy causes, as well as spend some of my time helping personally. But I wouldn’t be able to do that if I hadn’t also made good financial choices and stuck to my own vision of what a sound investment is. I was able to endow the Zvi Doh Roth Academy in Brooklyn, a school for Orthodox Jewish immigrants. The School is named after my grandfather, who was killed in the Holocaust. I also serve on the NYC Board of Corrections as Vice Chairman and I am a trustee of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I am Chairman of the Board of Trustees for One Brooklyn Health Systems and serve on the Board of Governors of the Touro College & University System.
I was born in the former Soviet town of Mukachevo, now part of Ukraine, in the Carpathian Mountains. My parents were both very hard working and also valued education. My father was a supervisor at a knitting factory and my mother was a homemaker. I saw firsthand the effects of having a moral compass guiding the decisions that you make and how it will benefit you in the future. My parents knew that education would be a key to my success and helped guide me toward entering the Lviv Trade and Economic Institute. I graduated with a doctorate in economics and later received a Ph.D. in international economics. I had a good base of knowledge to be able to build a career, but there is also no substitute for hard work. I soon emigrated to Hungary where I took a stock position in a vegetable shop, but in a very short period I succeeded to the role of store manager.
When I was just twenty seven years old, I became head of the sales department of fruits and vegetables for a state-owned produce distributor in Hungary. This was a leading government position, but I knew that it offered only limited success, so in 1985 I emigrated to the United States, along with my wife Olga. We decided on New York City, and I took a job working in my uncle’s kosher deli and in my cousin’s jewelry business. There are times when you have to take calculated risks, but the best person you can bet on is yourself. You know your own potential and what your strengths and weaknesses are, and you’re not leaving your fortune in someone else’s hands.
Eventually, I started investing in real estate. My first property purchased was a rental building in Brooklyn. I continued to build my real estate portfolio and, in 2012, I bought the Bankers Trust Building at 14 Wall Street for $303 million in cash. Not too long ago, I sold off my overseas assets in the fertilizer business, but I retain control of IBE Trade. I have continued to focus on diversifying my holdings within the real estate realm and now have a portfolio that includes hotels in Toronto, Budapest, Austria, and Ukraine. But my mainstay continues to be New York City real estate because one of my core beliefs is that you should stick to what you know.
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