Morris Kahn

Morris Kahn was a South African-born Israeli billionaire entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, widely regarded as one of the founding figures of Israel's high-tech industry. He was born March 5, 1930, in Benoni, South Africa, to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents, and made aliyah to Israel in 1956 with his wife Jacqueline and their two young sons, settling in the coastal community of Beit Yanai. His business rise began in 1968 when he won a government tender to produce Israel's "Golden Pages" telephone directory, later building a diversified group of businesses (the Aurec/Aurum Group) spanning directories, cable television, marine parks, and software.

Kahn's defining commercial success came in 1982 when he co-founded Amdocs, which grew into a global leader in billing and customer-management software for major telecom operators. After Amdocs went public in 1998, Kahn sold roughly $1 billion in shares, and Globes described him as among the wealthiest Israeli businessmen of his era. Forbes estimated his net worth at approximately $1.1 billion in 2025. Beyond software, he founded ventures reflecting his lifelong passion for the ocean—including the Coral World International aquarium chain and the Eilat Underwater Observatory (established 1974)—reportedly after a diving accident forced him ashore.

In his later decades, Kahn channeled his fortune into technology investing through Aurum Ventures MKI (founded 2005, based in Ramat Gan), the technology-investment arm through which he financed and mentored life-science and clean-tech companies "in all stages of development." He became best known internationally as the founder and chairman of SpaceIL, the nonprofit behind the Beresheet spacecraft, which in 2019 became a privately funded mission to reach lunar orbit before crash-landing on the Moon. He championed a follow-up mission but ultimately canceled Beresheet 2 in 2023, citing Israel's more urgent national needs.

Kahn devoted an estimated $200 million to philanthropy across medical research, science education, environmental and ocean conservation, and democratic institutions—founding or backing the LEAD youth-leadership program, Save a Child's Heart, the Movement for Quality Government, and the marine-conservation group Zalul. He summed up his philosophy as "I don't want to be the richest man in the cemetery," and in April 2025 told CTech he intended to leave his children a "reasonable amount" and donate the rest. His wife Jacqueline died in 2011; he was survived by his two sons, Benjamin and David. He died January 1, 2026, at age 95.

• Life sciences first: Aurum Ventures focused "almost solely upon novel therapeutics, whether devices or pharmaceuticals," providing both financing and managerial resources to companies from seed through later stages.
• Long-horizon capital: The firm explicitly took a long-term approach, recognizing that life-science and healthcare ventures "take time to mature and be successful"—patient, hands-on capital rather than quick flips.
• Cutting-edge / deep tech: A stated preference for "unique, cutting-edge technologies," spanning biotech, diagnostics, digital health, health IT, and hospital services.
• Clean-tech and planet-positive bets: Kahn described himself as a "venture philanthropist," backing companies (e.g., water disinfection, advanced manufacturing) he hoped would "contribute to the wellbeing of the planet."
• Check size: Roughly $100K–$5M per deal, with a ~$1.5M sweet spot, concentrated in Israel.