Early life, family, educational background

American financier and entrepreneur Joel Schiffman was born on March 21, 1958 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He is best known to the public for being in a relationship with broadcast journalist Hoda Kotb. Not much is known about his family, upbringing or childhood, but he does have at least one sibling, his sister, Beth Schiffman.

In 1981 he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in economics and during his time in college he played on their rugby team. In 1995, he graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s degree in finance and earned a certificate in Investment Management Analysis (CIMA) from the university’s Wharton School of Business. He grew up in Colorado but currently lives in New York City.

Who is Hoda Kotb?

American television personality, broadcast journalist and author, Hoda Kotb was born on August 9, 1964 in Norman, Oklahoma, USA. She is best known as co-anchor of the NBC News morning show “Today” – along with longtime friend Kathie Lee Gifford, she co-hosts NBC’s entertainment-focused segment on “Today,” the “Fourth Hour.” She also co-hosts ‘Today with Hoda & Jenna’ with Jenna Bush Hager. She was a correspondent for NBC’s magazine program “Dateline NBC,” and also worked on “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” appeared in a cameo on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and on a few other television shows.

She grew up in Alexandria, Virginia; Morgantown, West Virginia; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Her parents are from Egypt and she lived there with her family for a year, and they also lived in Nigeria.

She has a sister, Hala and brother, Adel. Her father, Adel Kader Kotb, was honored in the Who’s Who of Technology list as a specialist in fossil energy; he died in 1986 at the age of 51. Hoda’s mother, Sameha ‘Sami’, worked at the Library of Congress.

1982 hoda enrolled at Fort Hunt High School – she was chosen to speak at her matriculation class’ baccalaureate, and was elected homecoming queen. She was a member of the women’s association Delta Delta Delta, Beta Ny Chapter in college, and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism. At her graduation from Virginia Tech in 2008, she was the keynote speaker – playing Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” from her iPod in the background. In 2010, she was elected to the board of directors of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association for a three-year term. In 2005, she married Burzis Kanga, the former University of New Orleans tennis coach, but they divorced in 2008 for unknown reasons.

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Posted by Hoda Kotb On Sunday November 29, 2015

After undergoing a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer in March 2007, she became an advocate for raising breast cancer awareness by allowing viewers of the “Today” show to follow her journey as she battles the disease. She continued to share her story and raise awareness even after being declared cancer free. She has been nominated for and won a number of awards such as the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine in 2010.

Career

Joel worked his way up and eventually became the senior vice president of investment banking company Kidder Peabody, even though he had no certification of any kind. He then returned to his Denver home to become Smith Barney’s consulting group director. He stayed with the company for nine years and then became chief marketing director at Trail Ridge Capital.

Upon returning to Los Angeles in 2005, he served as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Client Services at Reed, Conner & Birdwell. He has also served as Senior Relationship Manager for New York-based Columbia Management National Accounts. In early 2019, New York-based Schroder Investment Management expanded and reorganized and hired Joel as head of U.S. Defined Contribution and Insurance Sales. From that position, he was eventually promoted to director and vice president of Janus Capital Group. He has said that his job requires him to develop, build and maintain strong, professional relationships with key insurance partners, including “developing and implementing investment and sales strategies designed to help our partners achieve their sales goals and investors with their pension goals.’ Overall, his job requires a lot of trust from the public, which could be a factor why he keeps his private life private.

Private life

From a relationship before Hoda, he had a daughter, Kyle Schiffman, born in 1994, in Denver – she currently lives in San Jose, California and attends Santa Clara University School of Law. Joel keeps his personal life private, so the identity of Kyle’s mother is unknown. Kyle is reportedly supportive of her father’s relationship with Hoda, and has even visited the set of the “Today” show and pleasantly shared her experience on her social media.

Joel started dating Hoda in 2013, but kept their relationship a secret from the public for the first few years. Hoda was supposed to talk about him on “Today,” but gave him the alias “Boots.” On January 20, 2015, the British media company the “Daily Mail” published photos of the couple on vacation, considered their first appearance together as a couple, after which Hoda confirmed their relationship. At the time, Billy Bush was Hoda’s deputy as a co-host of the show “Today” and interviewed Hoda after the photo was released.

He talked about how she protected her relationship from the public for two years, but they were eventually caught by the British press during a private vacation on a beach. Hoda said it felt odd, yet a relief after two years of not saying his name on camera and only referring to him as ‘Boots’ ‘…because we just showed off his shoes [on the show]…’ their relationship was finally open to the public. She continued, “Joel is out of the shadows! I feel some relief. I talked to him this morning and he said, ‘Who cares? Who cares!”[what people think].’ As their relationship became more serious, Hoda planned a double date with Kathie Lee Gifford and her late husband and former sports commentator and football player, Frank Gifford. On “Watch What Happens Live,” Hoda spoke about the double date with her “Today” co-host: “Look, he loved [Kathie-Lee]. He met Frank – he was in love.

I mean come on, he was on his knees.’ On her SiriusXM series, “The Hoda Show,” she announced in October 2016 that she was moving in with Joel, “[We] are going to look for an apartment together, so we took a look with the tape measure.’ She added that being in her fifties and announcing she was moving in with her boyfriend felt weird, it felt like they were kids again.

In February 2017, she announced on the show “Today” that they had adopted a baby girl, Hayley Joy Kotb, due to her inability to conceive following her 2007 cancer treatment, and due to her age. Hayley was born on Valentine’s Day that same year. They gave her the middle name, ‘Joy’ because of the happiness she brings to Joel and Hoda. She insisted that while Joel’s last name was not given to Hayley, he is still her father and she would call him “father.”

In an interview with People magazine, she stated that she and Joel worked through an adoption agency in New York and were told the process would help leave Joel’s last name out of the paperwork. In September 2018, Hoda appeared on “Watch What Happens Live” with host Andy Cohen, revealing that she met Joel at an event she didn’t really want to attend. Despite her reluctance, she had to perform because it was hosted by Tyler Mathisen, the husband of the “Today” show’s executive producer, LaMarca Mathisen. Hoda remembered the night she said it was raining and she had a speech to make, but everyone was bored; nevertheless, the audience was not her style as they were mostly Wall Street men. After her speech, she would sign autographs; it was at the signing that she met the ‘Jewish gentleman’.

Joel caught Hoda’s attention when he joked with her about the signing, and she responded by saying there was virtually no one in line. He gave her something to sign, and when she asked who she should dedicate it to, he jokingly replied, “How about me?” After the event, Hoda asked the event organizers about Joel and whether or not he was single. Joel found out about her interest in him and asked her out on a date via email. In her interview with Andy Cohen, he asked if she planned on marrying Joel. Hoda responded by saying, “I’ll be with Joel until my last breath — I know.” Through a live phone call in April 2019, she announced the adoption of their second daughter, Hope Catherine Kotb. Hoda told Entertainment Tonight, “We like the idea of ​​Haley [having] a sibling because she had such interesting circumstances growing up. So it would be nice to be able to share it with someone.’

Happy Birthday Joel❤️ pic.twitter.com/tCyUuqKVyP

— Hoda Kotb (@hodakotb) March 21, 2020

In June 2019, Hoda posted an Instagram photo with Joel in celebration of their 6th anniversary, thanking LaMarca Mathisen and Tyler Mathisen for forcing her to go to the event where she met Joel. On November 25, 2019, Hoda told her co-stars that Joel proposed to her while dining on a beach, while she was vacationing in Mexico. On “Today,” she shared the special moment, “And he was like, ‘I’ve got something else I’d like to say,’ and he said some pretty nice things, and then he got down on one knee.” Then he said, “Will you be my wife?” Hayley and Hope will be part of their marriage. Hoda told Hayley, “Mommy and Daddy love each other, so we’re throwing a party.” She will be in it. And Hope too.’

Appearance

Joel has gray hair and dark brown eyes. He is 1.75 m tall and weighs 82 kg.

Wealth and salary

According to comparilist.com, his net worth is estimated to be $19 million as of early 2020.