Craig Hatkoff

Craig Hatkoff is a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival along with Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. The largest film festival in North America, the festival was created immediately following the events of September 11th to help revitalize lower Manhattan. In 2010, Craig created and curates the annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards in collaboration with Professor Clayton Christensen (with whom he is Co-founder of the Disruptor Foundation ).

Craig started his career in real estate after business school in 1978 at Chemical Bank where he became one of the pioneers of the real estate securitization industry. He left Chemical to form Victor Capital Group in 1990, then partnered in 1995 with Sam Zell to create Capital Trust that became the real estate industry’s largest public mezzanine lender. He left Capital Trust in 2000 to pursue more entrepreneurial and creative endeavors immersing himself in the field of innovation. He formed Turtle Pond Publications LLC, a private entertainment and media company, which is today a leading publisher of children’s books.

As Chairman of Turtle Pond, he launched a number of successful start-ups. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Tribeca Film Institute, Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, the Child Mind Institute, The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, The Wild Bird Fund and the Borough of Manhattan Community College Foundation. He is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. He is a Director of two NYSE public companies, Taubman Centers Inc. and SL Green Realty Corporation.

In addition, he has co-authored with his young daughters a best-selling series of children's books including the New York Times #1 best-selling Owen and Mzee. Craig graduated from Colgate University '76 and received his MBA from Columbia University '78, where he was an adjunct professor at the business school from 1991-1995.