Latest news with #Rubenstein
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Clear Investment Group expands leadership ahead of new equity fund
This story was originally published on Multifamily Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Multifamily Dive newsletter. As Clear Investment Group gears up to launch its second investment fund, the Chicago-based workforce housing investor has made several additions to its leadership team, including four new hires and one promotion, according to a press release shared with Multifamily Dive. The company's new leaders have joined its acquisitions, asset management, technology and finance teams. Matt Kleifges has been named senior director of asset and property management, responsible for optimizing property performance. Kleifges was formerly the senior vice president and head of asset management and hospitality at Detroit-based City Club Apartments, according to his LinkedIn profile. Steve Duguid has joined the company as director of construction and capital projects. Duguid is a licensed architect with experience in project management. In his new role, he will oversee capital improvements and construction initiatives in CIG's portfolio. Steve Taylor, CIG's new director of technology, is experienced in artificial intelligence integration and Yardi property management software. His work will include implementing technology-driven solutions to drive operational efficiencies and data-driven decision-making, according to the release. John Adams is CIG's new financial controller, contributing to Clear's financial management and reporting. Adams was previously a financial analyst manager at Chicago-based nonprofit Envision Unlimited, according to his LinkedIn profile. In addition, Lindsay Rodriguez, formerly a member of CIG's asset and property management team, has been promoted to director of acquisitions. In her new role, Rodriguez will identify and secure investment opportunities for the company in collaboration with its CEO, Amy Rubenstein. 'Our new team members represent a significant investment in our infrastructure and underscore our commitment to excellence as we continue to grow with the launch of Fund II,' Rubenstein said in the release. 'We are proud of the progress we've made and excited for what lies ahead as we expand our capabilities and position ourselves for long-term success.' With Rodriguez in her new role, Rubenstein will focus her work on deal origination and underwriting, according to the release. CIG is in the process of raising $300 million through its Clear Opportunities Fund II to acquire workforce properties around the country. It intends to acquire roughly 9,000 units with these funds and reposition them in order to enhance their performance. 'The fund is acquiring large, 500-unit-plus multifamily portfolios in secondary and tertiary markets throughout the US, with a focus on submarkets where household income is $35,000 to $75,000 — really the heart of working America,' Rubenstein told Multifamily Dive in March. Recommended Reading Senior housing investors expect rent growth in 2023 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time Business News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time Business News
BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
In the heart of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Judge Mara's family court is presiding over a crisis of silence and delay that is costing a Florida child his father, his stability, and his voice. Mr. Rubenstein—a law-abiding paralegal with an active federal security clearance—has been stripped of all meaningful contact with his son, not by evidence of abuse, but by a temporary emergency custody order that has now become a tool for permanent exclusion. The origins of this tragedy are as shocking as the ongoing injustice. In late April, Mr. Rubenstein's son experienced a severe psychiatric crisis, repeatedly throwing objects at Mr. Rubenstein from a distance. One of these objects—a hard dog bone—struck Mr. Rubenstein in the head, causing him to lose consciousness for over thirty minutes. His fiancée, who the GAL will not even allow the child to know about, provided life-saving CPR before paramedics arrived. Mr. Rubenstein required emergency trauma care and two metal staples in his head. Despite these circumstances—completely out of his control—the mother initiated litigation against Mr. Rubenstein while he was still in the ambulance on the way to the trauma center. At the May 7 custody hearing, Judge Mara did not even have Mr. Rubenstein's objection or motion for continuance at the outset. Only after her assistant brought the filings into the virtual hearing did the judge read them—live, apparently for the first time—before immediately ruling. Compounding the irregularities, Judge Mara attempted to remove Mr. Rubenstein's daughter as well, but only backed down after Mr. Rubenstein objected that this was not included in the mother's emergency motion. Despite holding only a temporary custody order, the mother and her counsel, Meaghan Marro, have treated this as a permanent termination of Mr. Rubenstein's rights. Mr. Rubenstein has been barred from even telling his son about his recent engagement. Requests for Father's Day contact and for sharing family news have been denied or ignored. The mother also removed Mr. Rubenstein's access to school records, only restoring them under pressure. Judge Mara, rather than enforcing compliance or ensuring accountability, appointed a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) whose own statements betray clear bias: the GAL disclosed her own son was previously Baker Acted and opined that Mr. Rubenstein's son should be with his mother—ignoring both the court-ordered need for psychiatric care and the ongoing DCF investigations. The maternal grandmother is now under two back-to-back DCF investigations for alleged physical abuse, yet Mr. Rubenstein's access is further restricted and his concerns minimized. Opposing counsel, Meaghan Marro, has consistently refused to respond to settlement offers, avoided substantive engagement, and—through procedural tactics—helped foster an environment in which the mother acts as if temporary full custody is permanent. The effect is devastating: Mr. Rubenstein is barred from his child's school, medical, and personal life, while the GAL cites only the current 'temporary' order as justification for continued exclusion, in violation of Florida law and the statutory mandate to protect the child's best interests. Florida law is clear. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.13, § 61.401, and § 61.403, the court and its agents are required to foster meaningful relationships with both parents and to protect children from unnecessary psychological harm. Instead, the system has rewarded stonewalling, denied transparency, and allowed uninvestigated allegations against a household member—now the subject of dual DCF cases—to persist while the child's father is shut out. Mr. Rubenstein's case is now on appellate review and is being referred for public oversight. Hundreds of pages of evidence, filings, and records document a pattern of judicial passivity, procedural delay, and a chilling indifference to the child's well-being and due process rights. As Father's Day arrives, one Florida child will not hear from his father—not because of any proven risk or judicial finding, but because the officials charged with protecting his interests refuse to act. The silence from the 17th Judicial Circuit is more than just bureaucracy—it is irreparable harm. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
These Beautiful Birds Form Bonds That Resemble Human Friendship, New Study Finds
One quality often found in lasting friendships is the willingness to help one another. While this behavior is innate when it comes to human friendships, new research from Columbia University reveals that superb starlings—songbirds native to eastern Africa—also have reciprocal helping relationships. Up until now, researchers thought family ties were the reason animals were cooperative with each other. However, the study led by Alexis Earl, a former PhD student at Columbia University, reveals that superb starlings form lasting friendships built on reciprocity, helping each other with the belief that the favor will be returned. "Starling societies are not just simple families," Columbia professor Dustin Rubenstein told Columbia News. "They're much more complex, containing a mixture of related and unrelated individuals that live together, much in the way that humans do." Related: The 8 Best Apps and Tools for Identifying Birds, According to Experts The research team observed the birds for 20 years at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. During 40 breeding seasons, they documented thousands of interactions among hundreds of birds. Using DNA, they traced genetic ties to help map out the social networks within each group. For example, a bird that helped another during one breeding season might later become a breeder and receive help from that same feathered friend. According to the study, which was published in Nature, the birds helped non-relatives to build a network of allies. Because the harsh conditions in the African savannah are unpredictable, forming bonds with non-relatives might serve as insurance. It's a way to maximize survival, not just for one bird but for the entire group. This type of mutual support is a strategy that mirrors human friendships. The researchers also discovered that these reciprocal bonds sometimes lasted years. And in some cases, the birds chose to help specific non-relatives even when their kin were available to assist. "Many of these birds are essentially forming friendships over time," Rubenstein said. "Our next step is to explore how these relationships form, how long they last, why some relationships stay robust, while others fall apart." According to Columbia News, this data builds on decades of research collected by Rubenstein and his colleagues and students on animal relationships. They have examined animal communities in various species around the world, including snapping shrimp in the Caribbean, wasps in Africa, beetles in Asia, and mice and lizards in Australia. "I think this kind of reciprocal helping behavior is likely going on in a lot of animal societies, and people just haven't studied them long enough to be able to detect it," Rubenstein said. Read the original article on Martha Stewart
Los Angeles Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Orange Coast College Chamber Singers focus on ‘Requiem' for a theme
Orange Coast College choral director and conductor Eliza Rubenstein remembers moving to Orange County in the mid-1990s. She went to a recital for renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman at Segerstrom Hall, putting down $5 for a student ticket to see a childhood hero. 'I was walking up the stairs, and there was this old, white, rich couple walking down the stairs, all fancy,' Rubenstein recalled. 'As we passed each other, the woman sort of stopped and looked at me, up and down. She turned to her husband and she said loudly, 'She's going to the third tier. That's where the poorly dressed people sit.' 'I was like, 'You don't know it, but you just inspired my entire career.'' Rubenstein wants her students to know that iconic pieces like Mozart's Requiem are for them, too, and places like Carnegie Hall in New York are not out of reach. The OCC Chamber Singers will perform Requiem, accompanied by a full orchestra, on Saturday night, May 10 in the Robert B. Moore Theatre on campus. The show will also feature Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, performed by OCC music instructor Teresa de Jong-Pombo. For the Chamber Singers, Saturday's performance is a precursor to a show at Carnegie Hall on June 24, where they'll also perform Requiem with the New York City Chamber Orchestra as part of a four-day trip. Vincente Dang, a bassist, will be making his third trip to the famed concert hall with OCC. The group typically makes the trip every other year, and has performed works by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn in the past. 'It's so fun, having the experience of being on a different stage with all of the choir members that you've formed a bond with,' Dang said. 'Being able to spend more time with them, while still practicing the music at such a prestigious venue, is just so exciting. It's world-changing.' Taylor Cox, also a talented pianist, is looking forward to her first performance at the venue. She was born blind and reads music with braille for the show transcribed by Beth Syverson, a faculty member at OCC and Cox's longtime piano teacher. Cox, from Huntington Beach, said performance gives her equal footing. 'It's actually one of the few things that blindness doesn't affect,' she said. 'I have to deal with a lot of things in everyday life. I have to go everywhere with a cane, I can't drive anywhere, but I feel like performance is where things are truly equal for me. It's one of the spaces where there's not a lot of judgment. I've had a great experience overall, people have been wonderful on the campus in general, but it's kind of nice when blindness isn't the first thing that people notice when someone's performing.' Not every member of the OCC Chamber Singers is making the trip to New York, but Rubenstein said the group has been doing plenty of fundraising to make sure as many singers can go as possible. Mio Romero, an alto, said she is looking forward to both Saturday's concert and the trip to the East Coast. The group has been locking in on the material since the semester started in February. 'This work is just so massively famous,' Romero said. 'My boyfriend heard me practicing, and he was like, 'Oh my goodness, I've heard that before.' Like, yeah, it's in this video game.' I'm like, 'Yeah, it's also in this movie, and also in this other thing.' 'It's really humbling and amazing to be able to be part of it.' Tickets for Saturday's show are $10 for students and $15 for the general public, and can be purchased at OCC Tickets. Free parking will be available in Lot C. Rubenstein promises the tickets are well worth the money, adding that the choral department sings all types of music but there's something powerful about being in the presence of someone like Mozart. As for the Beethoven piece, she called de Jong-Pombo a world-class performer as well as a great teacher of OCC students of all ages and abilities. 'This is as much great music as you will get for your $15 anywhere in Orange County,' Rubenstein said. 'This is an incredible arts bargain.'
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaire David Rubenstein says his hiring red flag is people who try to cut ethical corners
Private equity billionaire David Rubenstein says building a successful business starts with hiring good people. Like Amazon and Duolingo's CEOs, he says being a decent human being is non-negotiable: 'You want people that have integrity. Becoming a billionaire doesn't happen overnight, but if you're determined to join the top 1% of earners, it might be best to take advice from those who have already made it. For billionaire David Rubenstein, co-founder of the private equity firm Carlyle, success starts with finding good people to help you. 'You want people that have integrity, that aren't trying to cut ethical corners,' he said at an event last week hosted by education company ETS. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that the 75-year-old says his hiring green flag is a good attitude. 'Hire people who are hopefully smarter than you, reasonably hard-working, people who are interested in what you're doing with your company,' he added. 'They believe it's a valuable thing to do, so they're going to have some interest in working hard and hopefully thinking that they're doing something useful for society.' Rubenstein's advice may seem intuitive, but Gen Z has particularly struggled at becoming standout employees in the workplace. According to one study, close to 60% of employers report having fired those early in their career, citing a lack of professionalism. Moreover, Gen Z is increasingly being known for backstabbing others in the office—something that's unlikely to fly working for a billionaire. There's no question Rubenstein knows a thing or two about working hard, having grown his now $14 billion company from the ground up—and he practices what he preaches when it comes to doing good. He's given millions to the National Park Service to restore historical landmarks like the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in addition to purchasing and lending copies of documents like the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, and Emancipation Proclamation. 'My theory is that you can always build a pyramid and take your wealth with you. But there's no evidence you need it in the afterlife, so I've decided to not do that,' he told The Washington Post in 2018. Finding people who hold the same philosophy—that using money for good is better than keeping it—is also part of what Rubenstein looks for in hiring. 'You want people who want to do something that makes society better by the result of what they're doing, so not just making money, (not) just hoarding it, but actually giving it away or doing other useful things for their time and their money and resources,' he said last week. Being at the top of a successful business is notoriously lonely, which is likely why Rubenstein and other leaders are adamant on finding the right people to work with. Billionaire Warren Buffett, whose net worth is some $166 billion has said that the secret to becoming a millionaire is surrounding yourself with the right people. 'Figure out what your strengths are and then pick the right people and don't be afraid of making mistakes,' Buffett recently said. But on a more basic employee level, having an entire company of people with the right skills can help drive success. The founder of Shake Shack Danny Meyer, for example, said he looks for six emotional skills in all his new hires: integrity, optimism, intellectual curiosity, work ethic, empathy, and self-awareness. Countless CEOs have highlighted that they prioritize hiring for attitude. Amazon's Andy Jassy has said that an 'embarrassing amount of how well you do, particularly in your twenties,' depends on it. Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn told Fortune he won't hire 'assholes.' And employers are increasingly sneaking personality tests into interviews to sniff out bad apples. This story was originally featured on
