Who

The heir to a family real estate and retailing fortune, Jonathan Farkas is a man-about-town, occasional Broadway producer, and investor.

Backstory

Jonathan's father, George Farkas, founded the discount-oriented Alexander's department store at 152nd Street and Third Avenue in 1928. The store thrived in its early years, opening its famed location on Lexington Avenue in 1963, and went public in the late 1960s. George soon sold most of his shares and exited the company, as did his son Jonathan. (Three other Farkas brothers—Robin, Sandy and Bruce—held on to their stakes in the company and eventually merged the struggling chain with Steve Roth's growing real estate empire.) Jonathan has spent the past three decades as an investor and theater producer (his credits include Noises Off, The Rink, and Legs Diamond), as well as tending to his expansive social life.

Personal

It's Farkas's love life that has generated the most press for the heir over the years. He's been married four times, including twice to the statuesque Somers White. The first time they married (and after he enlisted Bobby Short to help him propose), Farkas insisted she sign a pre-nup which stipulated that she bear no children. Somers abided by Jonathan's directive, but he ended up divorcing her anyway—although just months after the paperwork was complete, the couple remarried. Jonathan and Somers live on Park Avenue.