Edgar Filing: SUGARMAN JAY

Ownership Submission

FORM 4

Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

SUGARMAN JAY

2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
ISTAR FINANCIAL INC [SFI]

5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)

__X__ Director	_____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below)	_____ Other (specify below)
Chairman and CEO

(Last)

(First)

(Middle)

1114 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, 39TH FLOOR

3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
01/15/2009

(Street)

NEW YORK, NY 10036

4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

(City)

(State)

(Zip)

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock, $.001 par value per share	01/15/2009		F		63,891 ⁽¹⁾	A	$ 0	2,743,732 ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾	D

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
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Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 3)

2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security

3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)

3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)

4. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)

5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4, and 5)

6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)

7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities
(Instr. 3 and 4)

8. Price of Derivative Security
(Instr. 5)

9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 4)

10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)

11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)

Code

(A)

(D)

Date Exercisable

Expiration Date

Title

Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
SUGARMAN JAY 1114 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, 39TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10036	X		Chairman and CEO

Signatures

s/ Jay Sugarman		03/04/2009
^**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	On January 15, 2009, iStar Financial Inc. issued 63,891 shares of iStar common stock to the reporting person, representing the net shares to be issued, after taxes and other withholdings, in connection with the vesting of installments of restricted stock units pursuant to awards dated March 2, 2006, January 19, 2007 and January 18, 2008.
(2)	On May 1, 2008, 76,294 shares of iStar common stock held by a family trust established for the benefit of the reporting person's children (and indirectly beneficially owned by the reporting person) were transferred to the reporting person and are now held by him directly. This transaction was exempt from reporting under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is being reported voluntarily.
(3)	Following the completion of these transactions, the reporting person is the beneficial owner of a total of 2,743,732 shares of common stock of iStar Financial Inc., of which 2,291,243 shares are owned directly, 407,945 shares are owned indirectly through three family trusts and 44,544 shares are owned indirectly by the reporting person's spouse.
(4)	In addition to the shares of iStar common stock owned by the reporting person as reported in this Form 4, the reporting person owns 330,311 restricted stock units that have not yet vested, representing the right to receive an equivalent number of shares of iStar common stock if and when the units vest pursuant to awards dated March 2, 2006, January 19, 2007 and January 18, 2008.

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