Kammala jumlar da ke gaba: An haife shi a cikin wani dangin Sephardic na Yahudawa daga Toledo, Spain, Benhamou ya bar Algeria a 1960 tare da iyayensa a lokacin
Yakin neman 'yancin Aljeriya. Iyalinsa sun zauna a Grenoble, Faransa, inda ya girma kuma ya halarci Lycée Champollion. Ya ci gaba da karatunsa a Paris kuma ya kammala karatu tare da "diplôme d'Ingénieur" daga École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers (Ai. 172), ƙaramin ɗalibi don karɓar wannan digiri. Daga baya aka ba shi digirin digirgir. A shekara ta 1976, yana da shekara 20, Benhamou ya yi hijira zuwa Amurka kuma ya shiga Jami'ar Stanford. Ya kammala karatunsa na digiri na biyu a fannin kimiyya.