Liora Ofer: Melisron Chair & Ofer Family Heir

FOUNDERS & COMPANIES · OLAM.BUSINESS

Liora Ofer is chairwoman of Melisron (TASE: MLSR), Israel's largest mall owner, and sole owner of Ofer Investments, the family holding company that controls 52% of Melisron. Forbes put her net worth at $2.67 billion in 2026, making her one of only two female billionaires in Israel. She reached sole control of Ofer Investments after a family inheritance dispute that ran roughly two decades.

Who Is Liora Ofer?

Liora Ofer chairs Melisron, the shopping-center company that anchors the Ofer family's Israeli real estate holdings and ranks as the country's largest mall owner by portfolio. She also holds sole ownership of Ofer Investments Ltd., the family holding vehicle that controls 52% of Melisron, a position she reached following an inheritance dispute that ran roughly two decades before being resolved in her favor.

What Does Melisron Actually Own?

Melisron runs 26 assets totaling 814,000 square meters of gross leasable area, leased to roughly 2,300 tenants and drawing an estimated 70 million visits a year. The company has traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since 1992 and has been a member of the benchmark TA-35 index since 2014, with total balance-sheet assets of approximately NIS 31.5 billion and a market capitalization above NIS 20 billion.

The portfolio's anchor property is Ramat Aviv Mall, Israel's highest-yielding shopping center, where international luxury brands including SKIMS have chosen to open their first Israeli stores. Three additional Grand Kanyon-branded malls, in Haifa, Petah Tikva, and Be'er Sheva, plus Ofer HaKiryon in the northern Krayot cluster, round out the properties that carry the largest share of the company's footfall and operating income. Melisron reported NIS 2.27 billion in 2025 revenue, up 9.1% year over year, a print that Ophir Sarid, the company's CEO, has attributed in part to Israeli consumers redirecting spending into domestic retail during the post-October 2023 war years.

How Does Liora Ofer Fit Into the Ofer Family?

The Ofer family built its fortune on shipping, starting with a single vessel in the 1950s under brothers Sammy and Yuli Ofer. A family restructuring in 2002 split the empire along generational lines: Sammy's sons, Eyal Ofer and Idan Ofer, took the international shipping, energy, and chemicals holdings that now run through Israel Corporation, while Liora Ofer's branch retained the Israeli domestic real estate wing that became Melisron.

That 2002 split is why Melisron today operates as a listed, TA-35-member operating company rather than a private family real estate arm, a structure the family adopted specifically to unlock institutional liquidity while keeping Ofer Investments' 52% control block intact. Eyal Ofer and Idan Ofer each rank among Israel's wealthiest individuals in their own right, with holdings concentrated internationally rather than in Israeli malls, which is the clearest way to distinguish Liora Ofer's branch of the family from her cousins' businesses.

What Is Melisron Building Next?

Melisron has three projects under construction totaling roughly 197,000 square meters, the most visible being the Landmark project in Sarona, a mixed-use office tower in Tel Aviv's Sarona commercial district. The company has also entered residential construction and urban-renewal development in central Israel, a newer segment built to capture pinui-binui and TAMA 38 opportunities adjacent to Melisron's existing commercial land bank and municipal relationships.

How Does Melisron Compare to Israel's Other Mall Operators?

Melisron trades as a full operating commercial real estate company rather than a formal REIT, which gives Liora Ofer's board more flexibility to reinvest and develop than Israel's tax-regulated REIT vehicles allow. That structure sets Melisron apart from REIT 1 (TASE: RIT1) and Sella Capital, which operate under Israel's 2006 REIT tax regime and its mandatory distribution rules.

Melisron's closest operating peers are Amot Investments inside the Alony Hetz group, BIG Shopping Centers, and Azrieli Group's commercial arm, though Melisron holds the single premium-mall position that Ramat Aviv Mall secures on its own. That distinction matters for how Liora Ofer's chairmanship is positioned in Israeli commercial real estate: the company competes on flagship asset quality rather than portfolio breadth alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Liora Ofer's net worth?
Forbes reported her net worth at $2.67 billion in 2026.

What company does Liora Ofer chair?
She chairs Melisron (TASE: MLSR), Israel's largest shopping-center owner by portfolio, and separately holds sole ownership of Ofer Investments Ltd., which controls 52% of Melisron.

How large is Melisron's mall portfolio?
Melisron operates 26 assets covering 814,000 square meters of gross leasable area, leased to roughly 2,300 tenants and drawing an estimated 70 million visits a year, with total balance-sheet assets of approximately NIS 31.5 billion.

How is Liora Ofer related to Eyal Ofer and Idan Ofer?
She is part of the same Ofer family that built its wealth in shipping under Sammy and Yuli Ofer. A 2002 family split gave Sammy's sons, Eyal Ofer and Idan Ofer, the international shipping, energy, and chemicals holdings run through Israel Corporation, while Liora Ofer's branch retained the Israeli real estate holdings that became Melisron.

Why is Liora Ofer's position notable in Israel?
She is one of only two female billionaires in Israel, per Forbes' 2026 ranking, and reached sole ownership of Ofer Investments after a family inheritance dispute that ran approximately 20 years.