Benjamin Bronfman
Born
Benjamin Zachary Bronfman

(1982-08-06) August 6, 1982
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Businessman, musician
PartnerM.I.A. (2008–2012)
ChildrenIkhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman
Parent(s)Edgar Bronfman Jr.
Sherry Brewer
RelativesJohn Langeloth Loeb Sr. (great-grandfather)
Samuel Bronfman (great-grandfather)
Edgar Miles Bronfman (grandfather)
Hannah Bronfman (sister)

Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (born August 6, 1982) is an American ecopreneur and a Grammy award nominated musician.[1] Bronfman is a founding partner and board member of Global Thermostat, a direct air capture company that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere[2][3]

Early life

Benjamin Zachary Bronfman was born on August 6, 1982 in New York City to African-American actress Sherry Brewer Bronfman and Edgar Bronfman Jr., former chief executive officer of Warner Music Group and heir to one of the most influential Jewish families in the world.[4]

Bronfman lived in London briefly when his father was managing director of Seagram Distilleries Europe, then the family returned to New York in 1984 once his father became president of Seagram's US marketing division.[5]

Bronfman attended Collegiate High School in New York City, graduating in 2000. He enrolled in Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts where he studied politics and law.

Environment and technology

Bronfman at TEDx Brooklyn on November 13, 2010 presenting Global Thermostat vision and process

In 2007, Bronfman became interested in direct carbon dioxide removal from the Earth's atmosphere, teamed up with Columbia University economist Graciela Chichilnisky and founded Global Thermostat, where he is a founding partner and a director.[6] Global Thermostat completed the construction of its first pilot plant at The Stanford Research Institute in November 2010.[7] In the year 2018, Bronfman founded DGH, an investment firm for the medical cannabis industry which invested in Bedrocan International. He then contributed as a member of the board of directors from 2018 - 2023 at Bedrocan International., a pharmaceutically focused medical cannabis API supply company in Europe.

Music

Bronfman performing with The Exit in 2004

A music enthusiast since his childhood, Bronfman met Gunnar Olsen in high school and both performed in various bands. One of those bands became an early incarnation of The Exit in 2000 when Bronfman met Jeff DaRosa while attending Emerson College in Boston. The Exit is a critically acclaimed, New York City-based Indie / Post-Punk / Reggae group released two albums.

Bronfman received a Grammy nomination for Best rap song for his collaborative contribution to Kanye West's single "New Slaves" featured on the album "Yeezus".[8] Additionally, he co-produced the track "Monster" which was included on Kanye West's Grammy Award-winning album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy".

Bronfman is also the founder of Green Owl, which claims to be the world's first sustainably focused record label.[9]

Albums
Year Album Track List
2002 New Beat
  1. Worthless
  2. Lonely Man's wallet
  3. Sit and wait
  4. Scream and shout
  5. Trapped
  6. Find me
  7. Still waiting
  8. When I'm Free
  9. Defacto
  10. Question the Chorus
  11. Watertown
2004 Home for an Island
  1. Don't Push
  2. Let's go down the Haiti
  3. Back to the Rebels
  4. Home for an Island
  5. Pressure cooker
  6. Tell me all again
  7. The sun will rise in Queens
  8. Soldier
  9. Warm summer days
  10. Darlin
  11. So leave then
  12. Alredy gone
EPs
Year Title
2004 Sing four favorites
2006 The live session EP (iTunes exclusive release)
Music video
Year Title Directed by
2002 Lonely Man's wallet Major Lightner
2004 Let's go to Haiti Major Lightner
2005 Don't push Terry Timley
2005 Soldier Lightner
2006 Back to the Rebels Lightner and Javier Hernandez

Non-profit work & activism

Since 2010, Bronfman has engaged in cannabis advocacy efforts aimed at promoting legislative changes that would grant patients access to cannabis.[10]

He has served on the boards of the following non-profit organisations:

  1. Founding Board Member Pioneer Works
  2. Board Member Liberty Science Center
  3. Board Member Americans for Safe Access
  4. Board Member 15 Percent Pledge

Personal life

Bronfman met British rapper M.I.A. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 2008. They became engaged and M.I.A. gave birth to their son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, on February 13, 2009.[11] In February 2012, it was announced that the two had separated.[12]

Bronfman has two sisters, Hannah and Vanessa.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "56th Annual Grammy awards". www.grammy.com. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  2. ↑ Thermostat, Global. "Global Thermostat unveils one of the world's largest units for removing carbon dioxide directly from air". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Trendafilova, Petya (April 5, 2023). "Global Thermostat Unveils Its Demonstration Direct Air Capture Plant". Carbon Herald. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Seagram Company Ltd". www.britannica.com. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  6. ↑ "About | Global Thermostat". www.globalthermostat.com. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Can a 'Global Thermostat' Turn Climate Change Around? | GreenBiz". www.greenbiz.com. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Grammy nominations 2014: The top nominees". galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com. December 6, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Green Beat: The First Eco-friendly Record Label". Vanity Fair. April 8, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  10. ↑ Mallinson, Daniel J. (April 11, 2020). "Policy and Political Learning: The Development of Medical Marijuana Policies in the States". Publius. 50 (3): 344–369. doi:10.1093/publius/pjaa006.
  11. ↑ Pompeo, Joe. "The Bed-Stuy Bronfman", The New York Observer, November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ https://www.globalthermostat.com/about
  13. ↑ Ogunnaike, Lola (July 15, 2011). "Ebony: Meet The Black Bronfmans". SandraRose.com. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
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