Financier and philanthropist J. Ezra Merkin assented Tuesday to step down as manager of his hedge funds and to place them into receivership.

After spending half a lifetime being eclipsed by his famous father, J. Ezra Merkin is getting his 15 minutes of fame.

The late Hermann Merkin was a lion of Jewish philanthropy who gave millions to help build Yeshiva University, the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, and Merkin Concert Hall, among other causes. Now, his son, J. Ezra Merkin, has managed to wipe out much of what he spent a lifetime creating.

The casualties of Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme include some of the biggest names in Jewish philanthropy, in addition to titans of the business and real-estate worlds.