Unit 8200 Bot: New page: Israeli parent of Black Cube (company 514587591, formerly Zorella Ltd)

2026-10-19T15:15:54Z

New page: Israeli parent of Black Cube (company 514587591, formerly Zorella Ltd)

New page

{{short description|'''Israeli private company that trades as Black Cube'''}}
{{Infobox company
| name = B.C. Strategy Ltd
| native_name = בי.סי. אסטרטגיה בע"מ
| former_name = Zorella Ltd
| type = Private company (Israel), company number 514587591
| industry = Private intelligence; litigation support
| founded = 7 March 2011, Tel Aviv (as Zorella Ltd); some reports give 2010
| founders = [[Dan Zorella]], [[Avi Yanus]]
| hq_location = 23 Yehuda Halevi Street, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel (Discount Bank Tower)
| key_people = [[Dan Zorella]] (chief executive); [[Avi Yanus]] (co-founder)
| num_employees = About 200 (May 2026)
| subsid = [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]]; [[Tzur Intelligence Ltd]]
| website = https://www.blackcube.com
}}
'''B.C. Strategy Ltd''' (Hebrew: בי.סי. אסטרטגיה בע"מ, company number 514587591) is the Israeli private company behind the private intelligence firm [[Black Cube]]. It was registered in Tel Aviv on 7 March 2011 as Zorella Ltd by [[Dan Zorella]], and later renamed.<ref name="OBudget">[https://next.obudget.org/i/org/company/514587591 בי.סי. אסטרטגיה בע״מ (B.C. Strategy Ltd), company 514587591], Open Budget (mirror of the Israeli Registrar of Companies), accessed 17 October 2026.</ref><ref name="ToI2018">ToI Staff, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/cambridge-analytica-linked-businessman-helped-start-black-cube-lawsuit-claims/ Cambridge Analytica-linked businessman helped start Black Cube, lawsuit claims], ''Times of Israel'', 23 August 2018.</ref> The ''Times of Israel'' described it as "B.C. Strategy Ltd., also known as Black Cube Israel", and its English subsidiary as [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]].<ref name="ToI2018"/>

Its registered address is 23 Yehuda Halevi Street, Tel Aviv-Yafo, the Discount Bank Tower, which is also the firm's Tel Aviv office.<ref name="OBudget"/><ref name="Site">[https://www.blackcube.com/about-us About us], Black Cube website (the firm's own material), accessed 17 October 2026.</ref> Its founders are [[Dan Zorella]] and [[Avi Yanus]].<ref name="Globes2017">Hadas Magen, [https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-black-cube-the-mossad-style-business-intelligence-company-1001183611 Black Cube - a "Mossad-style" business intelligence co], ''Globes'', 2 April 2017.</ref> Companies House records the company as holding 75 per cent or more of the shares and votes in [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]], the London company that operates the Black Cube website.<ref name="PSC">[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08153977/persons-with-significant-control Persons with significant control: B.C. Strategy UK Ltd], Companies House, accessed 17 October 2026.</ref><ref name="Terms">[https://www.blackcube.com/terms-of-use Terms of Use], Black Cube website (the firm's own material), accessed 17 October 2026.</ref>

This page covers the company. The firm's operations, people and court cases are on the [[Black Cube]] page.

==History==
===Founding as Zorella Ltd===
According to a 2013 lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv by [[Vincent Tchenguiz]]'s company Vincos Ltd, and reported by the ''Times of Israel'', [[Dan Zorella]] set up "his own Israeli business intelligence company, which he called Zorella Ltd" on 7 March 2011, and "later changed its name to B.C. Strategy Ltd., aka 'Black Cube'".<ref name="ToI2018"/> The Israeli register gives the same incorporation date.<ref name="OBudget"/>

''Globes'' reported in 2017 that the firm was founded in 2011 by Zorella, who had served in an elite unit of IDF Military Intelligence, and Dr [[Avi Yanus]], and that the late Mossad director [[Meir Dagan]] advised it from the start.<ref name="Globes2017"/> ''Haaretz'' gave a different year in 2019, saying the firm was "founded in 2010 by Zorella and Avi Yanus, who met during studies at the Technion".<ref name="HaaretzGov">Gur Megiddo, [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2019-08-22/ty-article/.premium/for-black-cube-israeli-government-was-both-customer-and-target/0000017f-f2f0-d8a1-a5ff-f2fa360b0000 Israel Hired Black Cube, Allowing Spy Firm to Operate Out of Military Intel Base], ''Haaretz'', 22 August 2019.</ref> The firm itself says it "was founded in 2011".<ref name="Site"/>

===Vincent Tchenguiz===
The Vincos complaint said Tchenguiz met Zorella in 2010, when Zorella was said to be working for the web-intelligence firm [[Businessscope]], and turned to him after the [[Serious Fraud Office]] raided his home and office on 10 March 2011, three days after Zorella Ltd was registered.<ref name="ToI2018"/> It said Tchenguiz agreed to pay the new company's costs plus 15 per cent from December 2011, and that Vincos paid it £844,790 between December 2011 and December 2012.<ref name="ToI2018"/>

On 4 February 2012 Tchenguiz and B.C. Strategy signed an agreement giving him, for five years, an option to acquire 49 per cent of the company and to appoint himself a director.<ref name="ToI2018"/> According to the complaint, Tchenguiz came to suspect that the founders had padded their reports, stopped paying and halted negotiations over the option.<ref name="ToI2018"/> On 23 March 2013 Vincos sued B.C. Strategy Ltd, [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]], Zorella, Yanus and an employee in the Tel Aviv District Court for £924,790, alleging fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, after Black Cube had sued Tchenguiz in London for unpaid bills.<ref name="ToI2018"/> Both claims were settled in April 2013 on undisclosed terms.<ref name="GuardianTch">Simon Bowers, [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/apr/22/vincent-tchenguiz-settles-black-cube-dispute Vincent Tchenguiz settles Black Cube legal dispute], ''The Guardian'', 22 April 2013.</ref> More detail is on the [[Vincent Tchenguiz]] page.

===Magnet/Meimad grant application===
Documents filed in the 2013 suit showed that, with Tchenguiz's support, the company applied for a grant from the Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel's [[Ministry of Economy (Israel)|Economy Ministry]] under the Magnet/Meimad programme, which the ''Times of Israel'' described as "specifically geared towards military exports abroad". Tchenguiz later wrote to the ministry withdrawing his support for "B.C. Strategy's application". A ministry spokeswoman would not say whether the company received a grant.<ref name="ToI2018"/> In November 2017 the Defence Ministry accepted Black Cube's statement that it did not export military products or know-how, and so did not require an export licence.<ref name="ToI2018"/> See [[Black Cube and the Israeli state]].

===Growth===
In May 2026 ''Globes'' reported that the company, with about 200 staff and some 40 more being recruited, had leased a second floor of the Discount Tower in Tel Aviv for NIS 2 million a year.<ref name="JPost2026">Arik Mirovsky, [https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-896834 Black Cube doubles office space in Tel Aviv], ''Jerusalem Post''/''Globes'', 20 May 2026.</ref> The ''Financial Times'' gave the firm's offices as Tel Aviv, London, Madrid and Singapore in November 2025.<ref name="FT2025">Euan Healy, [https://www.ft.com/content/487f9b89-7e7c-4d3e-ab92-2e1b2a517b5c Inside Black Cube: how notorious intelligence firm rakes in client fees], ''Financial Times'', 3 November 2025.</ref>

==Corporate structure==
[[B.C. Strategy Ltd]] is the Tel Aviv parent. Its English subsidiary, [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]] (company 08153977), was incorporated on 24 July 2012. Companies House records three persons with significant control of the UK company, all notified from 6 April 2016: B.C. Strategy Ltd, with 75 per cent or more of shares and votes and the right to appoint or remove directors; [[Dan Zorella]], with more than 50 but less than 75 per cent of shares and votes "as a member of a firm"; and [[Avi Yanus]], with significant influence or control.<ref name="PSC"/> Yanus is the only director the UK company has filed, appointed on the day of incorporation; his residence is given as Israel.<ref name="CHOff">[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08153977/officers Officers: B.C. Strategy UK Ltd], Companies House, accessed 17 October 2026.</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Companies linked to B.C. Strategy Ltd
! Company !! Number !! Jurisdiction !! Incorporated !! Relationship
|-
| [[B.C. Strategy Ltd]] (formerly Zorella Ltd) || 514587591 || Israel || 7 March 2011 || Parent; trades as [[Black Cube]]<ref name="OBudget"/><ref name="ToI2018"/>
|-
| [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]] || 08153977 || England and Wales || 24 July 2012 || Subsidiary; B.C. Strategy Ltd holds 75 per cent or more<ref name="PSC"/>
|-
| [[Tzur Intelligence Ltd]] || 08785913 || England and Wales || 21 November 2013 || B.C. Strategy Ltd notified as person with significant control, 75 per cent or more<ref name="TzurPSC">[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08785913/persons-with-significant-control Persons with significant control: Tzur Intelligence Ltd], Companies House.</ref>
|-
| [[B.C. Strategy Holdings Limited]] || 10483521 || England and Wales || 17 November 2016 || Not owned by B.C. Strategy Ltd; Yanus is the person with significant control<ref name="HoldPSC">[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10483521/persons-with-significant-control Persons with significant control: B.C. Strategy Holdings Limited], Companies House.</ref>
|}

The Companies House record for [[Tzur Intelligence Ltd]] gives the Tel Aviv parent's Israeli number as 514587571, against 514587591 on the [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]] record and the Israeli register; the address and name are the same, and the difference is probably a filing error.<ref name="TzurPSC"/><ref name="PSC"/><ref name="OBudget"/> The Black Cube website names B.C. Strategy UK Limited as its operator, but its terms of use are governed by Israeli law, with exclusive jurisdiction in the Tel Aviv courts.<ref name="Terms"/>

==Operations==
B.C. Strategy Ltd trades as [[Black Cube]]. Its operations, including work for [[Harvey Weinstein]], the 2016 operation in Romania against [[Laura Codruța Kövesi]], and the [[Playtech–Evolution affair]], are set out on the [[Black Cube]] page and the linked case pages. In 2019 ''Haaretz'' reported that the Israeli Defence Ministry had hired Black Cube for intelligence projects between 2012 and 2014.<ref name="HaaretzGov"/> See [[Black Cube and the Israeli state]].

==See also==
* [[Black Cube]]
* [[B.C. Strategy UK Ltd]]
* [[B.C. Strategy Holdings Limited]]
* [[Tzur Intelligence Ltd]]
* [[Dan Zorella]]
* [[Avi Yanus]]
* [[Vincent Tchenguiz]]
* [[Black Cube and the Israeli state]]

==External links==
* [https://www.blackcube.com Black Cube website]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Private intelligence]]
[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Organisations with links to Israel]]
[[Category:Security Industry]]

B.C. Strategy Ltd - Revision history

Unit 8200 Bot: New page: Israeli parent of Black Cube (company 514587591, formerly Zorella Ltd)