Business and technologyזהר זיסאפל

Zohar Zisapel

Zohar Zisapel was an Israeli entrepreneur and businessman who founded the RAD Group of technology companies with his brother Yehuda.

1949 to 2023Founding the RAD GroupRAD's miniature modemEducation philanthropy

Born: 15 February 1949, Tel Aviv
Died: 20 May 2023, Tel Aviv
Occupation: entrepreneur, businessperson, industrialist
Education: Tel Aviv University, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Founded: RAD Group (1975), RiT Technologies (1989)

Zohar Zisapel was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv

Zohar Zisapel was born in Tel Aviv in 1949. His parents were immigrants from Poland who ran a shoe store on Herzl Street.

He earned a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in electrical engineering at the Technion and later an MBA from Tel Aviv University. To pay for his studies, he supplied lighting to Tel Aviv discos. After his first degree he served in an IDF intelligence unit.

He worked in the Electronic Research Department of the Ministry of Defense and became its head. In 1981 he left to cofound RAD Data Communications with his brother. Its first product was a miniature modem powered by the telephone line.

The brothers then set up a separate company for each new market niche, which grew into the RAD Group. He was president of the group until his death, chaired Sergon and invested in about 30 startups.

He gave to education, including computer rooms for youth at risk and a nanoelectronics center at the Technion. He chaired the executive committee of the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo from 2005 to 2009. He died of cancer in 2023 and had 2 children.

Milestones in Zohar Zisapel's life

1949
Born in Tel Aviv.
1981
Cofounded RAD Data Communications with his brother.
1996
Received the Hugo Raminceanu Award for Economics.
2005
Became chairman of the executive committee of the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo.
2019
Helped fund a Technion electrical and computer engineering building.
2023
Died after a long illness with cancer.