Abel Holtz
Abel Holtz was born in Placetas, Cuba. He graduated from the University of Havana in 1956 with accounting and law degrees. He practiced law in Havana for 5 years and as a result of Abel’s representation of political prisoners, he was jailed by the Castro regime. He arrived in Miami in 1961.
With the support of close friends he raised funding to start Capital Bank in 1974. The bank grew to $2 billion in assets and became one of the largest minority-owned businesses. He also built the bank’s factory subsidiary, Capital Factors, into one of the industry’s largest. Abel was named Banker of the Year by the National Economic Development Association because of the assistance extended to the Latin community, and he received the Lincoln Marti Award from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Shortly thereafter he was awarded the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Wharton School Club of South Florida. Abel was a great supporter of the community as a Chairman of Jackson Memorial Hospital Foundation and provided the leadership gift to establish Holtz Children’s Hospital at Jackson. He also developed Fana Holtz High School at the Hebrew Academy and served on the board of the Diabetes Research Institute, the National Parkinson Foundation, Mt. Sinai Medical Center and many others. He passed away July 3, 2021.
