Who

With partner Scott Sartiano, Akiva is the nightlife impresario who runs 1OAK, Butter, G-Spa & Lounge, and the Star Room in the Hamptons.

Backstory

A "prep school gangster," Akiva grew up in Manhattan, got kicked out of private school (he ended up graduating from Dwight), and spent his teen years partying and hanging out at bars and clubs downtown. (One good pal was downtown fixture Davide Sorrenti—the ex-boyfriend of model James King—who died of a heroin overdose in 1996.) Following a brief stay at Northeastern, Akiva returned to NYC and started promoting parties at the age of 19; he soon found himself pulling in $10,000 a week, much to the surprise of his father. ("My dad thought I was dealing drugs.") He first met Scott Sartiano in the late '90s when the two were working at the West Village club Life; in 2002 they partnered up to open Butter, which quickly became a celebrity beacon, attracting the likes of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Diddy, Taye Diggs, and Ashlee Simpson.

There was trouble in clubland in fall 2006, though, when Akiva and Sartiano were sued for $7.5 million by Butter investors—they claimed the pair had been skimming profits for personal expenses, and giving away unlimited freebie food and drinks to their celebrity pals. The suit was later settled.

Since Butter, Akiva and Sartiano have tried their hand at a few other ventures, some more successful than others. In 2006, they opened G-Spa in the Hotel Gansevoort with help from Jeffrey Chodorow. More recently the pair, along with Jeffrey Jah and Ronnie Madra, opened 1OAK (for "One of a kind") on 17th Street. Akiva claims he has two side ventures in the works—a record label and a clothing line—although they've yet to materialize.

Personal

Bantam-weight Akiva does extremely well with the ladies. He's been linked to Lindsay Lohan, model Carmen Kass, and Mary Kate Olsen. Akiva and Lohan, it seems, didn't part on the best of terms: The actress was spotted throwing glasses at him at Butter in June 2006. (And she later dated his business partner, Sartiano.) Akiva lives on Moore Street in Tribeca.

True story

In 2006, Akiva told the press he was no longer BFFs with hip-hop music mogul Damon Dash, because the married Dash slept with Akiva's girlfriend. "He failed the drunk girlfriend test," Akiva clarified.