Mimi Haas

Miriam L. "Mimi" Haas
Born	Miriam Ruchwarger 1946 (age 78–79) New Jersey
Education	George Washington University (BA)
Occupation	Businesswoman
Board member of	Levi Strauss & Co.
Spouses	Brian Lurie ​ (m. 1968)​ Peter E. Haas ​ ​ (m. 1981; died 2005)​
Children	2, including Daniel Lurie
Relatives	Peter E. Haas Jr. (stepson)

Miriam "Mimi" Lurie Haas (born 1946) is an American billionaire businesswoman. She is the widow of Peter E. Haas, who was the great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, the founder of denim manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co.

Early life

She was born Miriam Ruchwarger in 1946 in New Jersey, the daughter of Nancy (née Zdenka) and Avram Ruchwarger, Jewish refugees from Yugoslavia.[1][2] She was raised in Annapolis, Maryland and then in the Washington D.C. suburbs[1] where her father was a psychiatrist.[1] She attended Oxon Hill High School, in Oxon Hill, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and graduated in the class of 1964.[3] She earned a degree in political science from George Washington University.[4][5]

Career

Haas is president of the Miriam and Peter Haas Fund, since August 1981.[6][4]

In July 2004, Haas was elected as a director of Levi Strauss & Co, succeeding her husband, who stood down as chairman emeritus.[4]

Haas is^[when?] vice chair of the board of trustees and chair of the committee on painting and sculpture of the New York Museum of Modern Art, and vice chair of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[6]

In 2019, Haas owned nearly 17% of Levi Strauss & Co, making her a billionaire, following the February 2019 plan for the company to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.[7][8] As of 2024, she owned 11%.[9] In 2021, Forbes estimated her net worth to be around $1.4 billion.[9]

Personal life

On June 12, 1968, she married Brian Lurie, who she had met in Israel when on an American Friends of the Hebrew University program.[2] Rabbi Brian Lurie was president of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco[10] for many years. He is a past board president and serves on the board of directors of the New Israel Fund.[11] They had two sons, Ari Lurie and Daniel Lurie, mayor of San Francisco and former CEO of Tipping Point Community.[12][13]

She was married to Peter E. Haas (his second marriage) from 1981 until his death in 2005.[13][14][10]

She lives^[when?] in San Francisco.[15]

In 2010, she bought one of the apartments owned by Charles R. Schwab at 834 Fifth Avenue, New York, for $12.5 million.[15]

Around 2024, she donated $1 million to a committee supporting the candidacy of her son Daniel Lurie for mayor of San Francisco.[9] A report by The San Francisco Standard concluded that this was possibly "the largest contribution to a committee in support or opposition of a candidate in San Francisco history."[16]

References

1. Riedel, Mija (October 26, 2018). "Oral history interview with Mimi Haas". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution.
2. Glaser, Eleanor (1997). "Jewish Community Federation Leadership Oral History Project Former Executive Director, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, 1974-1991 Brian L. Lurie". Jewish Community Federation Leadership Oral History Project. OAC. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
3. "Old Friends - Class of 1964 - Oxon Hill High School - $3 Lifetime subscription". old-friends.co. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
4. "Levi Strauss & Co. Names Miriam L. Haas to its Board of Directors". Businesswire. July 2, 2004. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
5. "GW Alumni Association | the George Washington University" (PDF).
6. "Mimi Haas". Stanford University. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
7. Yakowicz, Will (February 14, 2019). "As Jeans Giant Levi Strauss Prepares To Go Public, New Billionaire Emerges". Forbes. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
8. Devon Pendleton (February 13, 2019). "A $2.5 Billion Blue Jeans Fortune Emerges With Levi's IPO Plan". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
9. Regimbal, Alec (January 30, 2024). "Billionaire mother of SF mayoral candidate spends $1M on her son's race". SFGate. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
10. Glaser, Eleanor (1992). "Peter E. Haas - President, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, 1977-1978 - Interviews Conducted by Eleanor Glaser" (PDF). Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley. I dated Jewish girls, though I went around with non-Jewish girls, That was one of those things you went through. My first wife was not Jewish.
11. "People". New Israel Fund. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
12. Bhatia, Pooja (April 8, 2014). "The Robin Hood of the Bay". OZY. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
13. Saxon, Wolfgang (December 6, 2005). "Peter Haas, 86, Executive During Levi Strauss Heyday, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
14. Guthrie, Julian (July 1, 2007). "The Haas Legacy / How one family's generosity and commitment to civic life are transforming the Bay Area". SFGate. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
15. "She Haas the Right Stuff! Levi's Chairwoman Buys Schwab's 834 Fifth Penthouse for $12.5 M." The New York Observer. April 8, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
16. Koehn, Josh (January 30, 2024). "Mom Drops $1M to Help Lurie Win San Francisco Mayor's Race". The San Francisco Standard. Retrieved February 1, 2024.