Benjamin Abrams was the co-founder, board chairman and CEO of the Emerson Radio and Photograph Corporation.

A Romanian-born Jew, he was one of six children of Solomon and Malca Abramovici. He came to America at age 12 followed by his brothers Max and Louis. At first he tuned pianos for $3 a week, then sold magazines before becoming a salesman in the phonograph and record business. Eventually, the Emerson company which he started in 1922 with his two brothers, would manufacture more than 100 products, including TVs, radios, hi-fi sets, air conditioners and tape recorders.

Though he reportedly "never attended school," he rose to prominence not only as an innovative entrepreneur but also as a prodigious philanthropist, especially as a donor to Jewish causes. He was a founder of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and of the Greater New York Committee for Israel Bonds, as well as founder and board member of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Greater New York. He also served as a member of the board of directors of the United Jewish Appeal, the Weizmann Institute, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the American Financial and Development Corporation for Israel, and the American Friends of the Hebrew University. In 1954, Abrams funded the electronic laboratory at the Weizmann Institute at Rehovot which was named in his honor. 

Benjamin Abrams was a Freemason, a member of New York's Farragut Lodge No 976.

He and wife Elizabeth Sargoy had three daughters, one of whom was Cynthia Peltz, the first wife of billionaire financier Nelson Peltz.

Abrams's other siblings were sisters Becky Gross, Rose Robbins and Anna Lauer.

Abrams's widow Elizabeth (1907-1994) later married Arnold Kramer.