Jewish Philanthropy Podcast · Dovid M Cohen

Lessons from a CEO: Bruce Schanzer

·1 hr 4 min·5 clips

Henry Cressel told Bruce to leave Merrill Lynch just months before the 2008 financial crisis hit.

This episode of the Jewish Philanthropy Podcast features host David M. Cohen interviewing Bruce Schanzer, the former CEO of Cedar Realty Trust and a seasoned real estate investor. Schanzer shares his professional journey and personal philosophy, beginning with his upbringing in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a blue-collar Jewish town where influential real estate families like the Wilfs, Kushners, and Halperns were neighbors. He describes working summer jobs for the Halperns and how this environment steered him toward a career in real estate. Schanzer credits his mentor, Henry Kressel—a former RCA Labs vice president and later a Warburg Pincus partner—for providing critical career advice, including a prescient warning to leave Merrill Lynch in early 2007 before the financial crisis. His path to becoming CEO of Cedar Realty was facilitated by long-term client relationships, particularly with Holocaust survivor and company founder Leo Ullman. Schanzer reflects on the intense challenges of leading a public company, including a period where he faced a false, very public accusation that was later vindicated in The Wall Street Journal. He considers the successful, complex wind-down of Cedar Realty, which returned $29 per share against a $14 stock price in a difficult market, a crowning professional achievement. A memorable personal insight is the central role of his wife, Jill, whose support during his public ordeal strengthened their marriage, and he proudly promotes her modest athletic wear company, Anivis. The conversation is conversational and reflective, blending business lessons with personal anecdotes and Jewish values. Listeners interested in real estate, corporate leadership, and mentorship stories will find this episode engaging, while those seeking highly technical financial analysis might find it less focused.

As heard by us

A grounded leadership interview that connects finance, real estate, and philanthropy to the pressures of executive life.

This conversation follows Bruce Schanzer from finance into real estate and places him inside a Jewish philanthropy setting. Its strongest stretch is the one that treats the CEO role as hard work: stressful, unusual, and shaped by crises, people management, and personal growth.

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Why you'd press play

If you want leadership, money, and Jewish values in one steady conversation.

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