Yigal Arnon, a legal giant and confidant of many leaders of the economy until a few years ago, passed away last night, aged 84, after a long struggle against serious illnesses. His funeral will be held on at 6 pm Tuesday at the Kfar Shmaryahu cemetery.
Arnon, who was one of the pillars of Israel's business and legal worlds, studied law during his military service and was a salaried attorney for Adv. Shlomo Tusia-Cohen. In 1958, he left to found Yigal Arnon & Co. Law Firm, which soon became a leader in many legal fields. It is currently ranked among Israel's top ten law firms, with 139 lawyers.
Arnon stopped practicing several years ago, after passing the baton to the firm's young management in the 2000s.
Arnon was one of Israel's wealthiest lawyers, with shares in several leading companies. His fortune is estimated at $50-100 million, although any figure is a guess. In an interview with "Globes", he once said that he was not hurt by the 2008 economic crisis, saying, "If I had $100 million before the crisis, I now have $30 million. That is not being hurt by the crisis. Even if I were to lose more, that would not be a disaster. If I had $4 million, wouldn’t that be enough? It would definitely be enough."
However, contrary to what is popularly supposed, Arnon was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. On the contrary; he started his career penniless, and built his fortune with his own hands.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 28, 2014
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