Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan is an entrepreneur, investor, environmentalist, and philanthropist renowned for his leadership in natural resources investment, wildlife conservation, cultural heritage protection, and the arts. Born in New York City, he holds Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in modern history from the University of Oxford.
Dr. Kaplan is the Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of The Electrum Group LLC, a New York-based precious metals-focused asset management firm. His investment philosophy combines deep historical insight with strategic commodity analysis, leading to a strong track record in resource exploration and development, pursued in partnership with sovereign wealth funds.
Beyond business, Dr. Kaplan is a passionate conservationist. In 2006, he and his wife, Daphne Recanati Kaplan, co-founded Panthera, the global leader in the protection of wild cats and their critical ecosystems. They also established the Recanati-Kaplan Center at Oxford University ’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), supporting field conservation and higher education programs. In addition, Dr. Kaplan is the Founder and Chairman of The Orianne Society, a U.S.-based environmental organization protecting imperiled reptiles and amphibians, and of the Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance (IOTA), a Seychelles-based NGO dedicated to the preservation of Aldabra giant tortoises.
In the arts, the Kaplans created The Leiden Collection, the world’s largest private collection of Rembrandt and Dutch Golden Age art — including 17 works by Rembrandt and the only Vermeer to remain in private hands. As the only dedicated “lending library” for Old Masters, the Collection has loaned paintings to over 80 museums worldwide and has been received in France, China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and the United States, as part of its global tour.
In cultural heritage protection, Dr. Kaplan has served as founding Chairman of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH) — a Geneva-based foundation led by the governments of France, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ALIPH finances the implementation of preventive, emergency response, and restoration programmes for endangered cultural property — having supported over 550 projects in 54 countries to date.
Dr. Kaplan has served as President and Chairman of 92NY, New York’s famed Jewish cultural center, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Belfer Center’s International Council at Harvard University. For services to France, Dr. Kaplan was appointed Officier in the National Order of the Legion of Honor and Commandeur in the Order of Arts and Letters. He was also awarded the rank of Officier in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his efforts in disseminating Dutch culture and building bridges between people through art.
