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Forbes Top 400 Richest Americans
Real Estate #23 DONALD BREN
Son of Hollywood producer attended U. of Washington on skiing scholarship; halted Olympics bid after injury 1956. Built first house with $10,000 loan 1958. Developed 10,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo in California, sold to Philip Morris 1967. With partners bought real estate developer Irvine Co. for $337 million 1977. Became sole owner 1996. Today portfolio includes 25,000 undeveloped acres in Orange County (13,000 can be developed), 400 office buildings, 40 retail centers, 90 apartment communities, hotels, marinas, golf courses. Gave $20 million to UC, Irvine's law school in August. #46 ELI BROAD
Son of Lithuanian immigrants born in the Bronx, raised in Detroit. Bought first patch of real estate at age 20. Cofounded Kaufman & Broad with $25,000 borrowed from his in-laws; became one of nation's largest affordable home builders, focusing on homes for parents of baby boomers. Acquired Sun Life Insurance (later renamed SunAmerica) in 1971. Sold to AIG in 1998 for $18 billion; stake worth $3.1 billion today. With Ronald Burkle , made failed bid for newspaper company Tribune earlier this year. Remains interested in buying L.A. Times. Owns art collection worth $1 billion. Favorite piece: Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog." Philanthropy focused on education reform, scientific and medical research. "American economic security is at risk without better public education." #52 SAMUEL ZELL
Bearded baron of Chicago real estate now writing headlines. Engineered $8.2 billion leveraged buyout of newspaper giant Tribune Co. in March; beat out billionaires Eli Broad, Ron Burkle, David Geffen (see all). Sold real estate investment trust Equity Office Properties to Stephen Schwarzman's Blackstone Group for $39 billion cash in February. Parents fled Poland for America weeks before Nazi invasion. With Robert Lurie (d. 1990), built business buying, selling cheap real estate. Still owns large stakes in Equity Residential and Equity Lifestyle REITs. Other investments: low-income housing projects in Egypt, shopping malls in Brazil, office parks in China. #68 PAUL MILSTEIN
Father, Morris, founded Circle Floor Co. 1919, laid hardwood floors and carpeting for Rockefeller Center, Madison Square Garden. With brother Seymour (d. 2001), took over business. Sold 1960s; built New York real estate empire with profits. Today Milstein Properties owns apartment towers from Battery Park City to the Upper East Side, offices in Midtown, numerous undeveloped lots across Manhattan. Acquired New York's oldest savings bank, Emigrant, for $90 million 1986; assets now $14 billion. Launched Internet banking arm 2 years ago; today holds $9 billion in deposits. Son Howard oversees real estate and banking operations. Recently purchased a $145 million stake in Jack Nicklaus' golf course and equipment design company. #68 STEPHEN ROSS
Nephew of late Forbes 400 member Max Fisher (d. 2005) founded real estate outfit Related Companies 1972. Initially focused on building, financing low-income housing; moved into riskier luxury buildings in New York. Nearly went bankrupt early 1990s, recovered; today company has developed more than $16 billion worth of property across the U.S., including Manhattan's massive Time Warner Center. Met Jorge Perez ; duo made billions developing Florida condos. Partnership continues via Perez's condo and hotel projects in Latin America. Recently purchased Virgin Megastores North America from British billionaire Richard Branson. Bidding for rights to run Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga racetracks. Became chairman of powerful Real Estate Board of New York in January. #79 LEONARD STERN
Joined father's Hartz Mountain Pet Products at the age of 21; sold company for $350 million in 2000 to private equity firm J.W. Childs. Began buying land in New Jersey 1960s; today owns 38 million square feet of commercial, residential, retail properties from Newark to Jersey City. Also hotels: Manhattan's tony Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand. Plans to redevelop 98-acre site of a former Ford Motor plant in Edison, N.J. #105 MATTHEW BUCKSBAUM
Grocer's son developed first shopping center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1954 with his 2 brothers. Took General Management public in 1970; real estate investment trust liquidated 15 years later for 100% profit. Relocated to Chicago after brother Martin died 1995, renamed company General Growth Properties. Remains chairman; son, John, took reins 1999. Today nation's second-largest REIT owns 200 million square feet across 194 malls and planned communities in 44 states; shares up 17% in past 12 months. Company recently gave health insurance, higher wages to shopping center janitors. #117 RICHARD LEFRAK
Grandfather Harry started developing New York City real estate 1901. Father, Sam, became paragon of mass-market home building: "I produced an apartment every 16 minutes." Richard studied at Amherst College, joined family business early 1970s; became chairman after dad died in 2003. Now runs company with 2 sons, Harrison and Jamie. Portfolio includes 5,000 apartments at LeFrak City in Queens, N.Y., 7-million-square-foot-commercial, residential, retail complex in Newport, N.J. Expanding Newport project; $10 billion "mini-city" will soon include a new office tower, 429-room Westin hotel and 4,500 more apartments and condos. On board of the American Museum of Natural History. #117 JOHN SOBRATO
Sold houses as a student at Santa Clara U. Expanded into commercial real estate 1960s. Built portfolio erecting campuses for tech titans Apple and Yahoo. Today Sobrato Development owns and manages 100 buildings in Silicon Valley, 8.5 million square feet of commercial space, 8,500 residential units; another 400 acres ready for development. Increased demand for prime office space, rising rents pushing up profits as tech companies expand. Tax-efficient philanthropy: donates buildings, office parks to foundations to sell or use. #117 DONALD TRUMP
Son of Brooklyn developer borrowed heavily, built big, lived large, became a billionaire during 1980s. Eviscerated in 1990 real estate crash; stayed flamboyant, embraced reality TV. Now other builders pay him millions to license "Trump" brand. Despite looming housing woes, the Donald's retail, office and hotel business is up. Recently signed Gucci in record lease in New York's Trump Tower; Trump Chicago hotel opens December. Annually disputes FORBES' net worth estimate: "I'm worth $7 billion." #130 MELVIN SIMON
Left native Brooklyn for Midwest, ended up in Army. Sold encyclopedias, spent time as a leasing agent. With younger brother, Herbert, made fortune covering the country with shopping malls. Today duo owns large stake in Simon Property Group; Melvin's son, David, chief executive since 1995. REIT owns or operates nearly 260 million square feet of leasable space at 380 properties in North America, Europe and Asia. Market cap: $50 billion. Also owns pro basketball's Indiana Pacers. With wife, donated $50 million to Indiana U. to create Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. #165 THEODORE LERNER
Borrowed $300 from wife, founded real estate developer Lerner Enterprises in 1952. Made fortune building massive shopping malls in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.: Tysons Corner Center, Tysons II, Wheaton Plaza, Landover Mall, Dulles Town Center, White Flint. Today owns millions of square feet of commercial and retail property, thousands of apartments. Focused on new developments near area's Dulles airport and Tysons II. Going green: buying wind power tax credits for new projects. Owns pro baseball's Washington Nationals; runs franchise with son and 2 sons-in-law, spending millions to develop team's farm system. #188 MORTIMER ZUCKERMAN
Son of Montreal tobacco and candy wholesaler studied at Harvard, then Wharton M.B.A. Cofounded Boston Properties with Edward Linde 1970, took public 1997. Shares up 400% since offering. Today portfolio includes 135 commercial buildings: offices, hotels, retail. Sold 5 Times Square office tower for $1.3 billion last November. Also invested in media: owns U.S. News & World Report, New York's Daily News. "I've been a news junkie since I was 13 years old." Unrest: university presidents demanding changes to U.S. News' famed college rankings. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan opened a new research center funded with $100 million endowment from Zuckerman in February. Frequent panelist on Sunday morning chatfest The McLaughlin Group. #195 EDWARD ROSKI JR.
Former Marine commands real estate empire via Majestic Realty: owns more than 73 million square feet of commercial property from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Owns stake in Staples Center arena with Philip Anschutz ; also stakes in pro basketball's L.A. Lakers, hockey's L.A. Kings. Donated $23 million to alma mater USC last year to fund fine arts school; serves on board of National Geographic Society. Owns 20% stake in Promérica Bank; Los Angeles bank focused on serving Latino entrepreneurs. #220 NEIL BLUHM
Cofounded commercial real estate investment firm JMB Realty with U. of Illinois roommate 1970. Rebuilt fortune after 1990s real estate collapse via private equity firm Walton Street Capital. Today portfolio includes Chicago's Four Seasons Hotel, MGM Tower in Los Angeles. Feeling lucky: lost out on bid for stake in Las Vegas' Riviera casino last December, won license to build riverfront casino in Philadelphia 4 days later. Prodigious collector of contemporary art also buying up industrial properties near West Coast ports. #220 ARCHIE ALDIS "RED" EMMERSON
Started working at age 7 to help support family. Helped father, Curly, operate a small lumber mill 1940s. Took Sierra Pacific public 1969; private again 5 years later. Borrowed $460 million to buy 522,000 acres in 1988. Today company is nation's third-largest private landowner with more than 1.8 million acres of timberland, mostly in California. Planning to turn some of his ground into residential developments. Last year bought 147,000-acre Hamilton Tree Farm in Washington State out of bankruptcy. Wears blue jeans, drives Chevy pick-up. Son Mark runs company's finances. #239 ALAN CASDEN
Studied accounting at U. of Southern California, practiced bean counting before moving to real estate 1975 with $1,000 savings. Built fortune on high-density inner-city apartment buildings in Los Angeles. Sold bulk of portfolio to Aimco in 2002 for $1 billion in cash, stock, assumed debt. Today owns 209,000 square feet of office space, 3,100 high-end apartments in L.A.; partnering with Aimco and Cerberus Real Estate in other L.A.-area projects. Donates money to alma mater, Jewish causes; now building an "American-style" condo tower in Tel Aviv, Israel. Personnel issues: in August a Casden exec pleaded guilty to taking a bribe, filing false tax return. #239 HARRY MACKLOWE
College dropout became a real estate broker in 1959; founded developer Macklowe Properties mid-1960s. Focused on developing office and residential properties in New York City. Lost Hotel Macklowe to lenders early 1990s; scrapped plans to go public 1998 amid market woes caused by Japanese financial crisis. Today Macklowe Properties run with son William. Paid the Trump Organization and Conseco $1.4 billion for Manhattan's General Motors Building in 2003; today building worth $2.9 billion. Purchased 8 buildings from Equity Office Properties portfolio for $6.8 billion in February. Now owns 12 million square feet of office space in New York, developing 2 new office buildings in Midtown. #239 SHELDON SOLOW
Brooklyn-born son of a bricklayer made big bet on 9 West 57th Street, today one of New York City's best commercial addresses; building is home to several high profile hedge funds, commands rents of more than $200 a foot. Also owns luxury apartments on Upper East Side. Still waiting on approval to redevelop a parcel on Manhattan's East River into 4 million square feet of residential, commercial and retail space. Avid art collector recently donated 2 floors of a New York City townhouse to Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. #239 JERRY SPEYER
Father fled Nazi Germany. Jerry studied German literature at Columbia, later joined father-in-law Robert Tishman's realty firm. Divorced the daughter, but Speyer and Tishman continued to work together; created Tishman Speyer in 1978. Company now a global real estate powerhouse: owns New York's Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center, purchased Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment and retail complex for $5.4 billion from MetLife last year. Family business: wife, Katherine, runs company's emerging markets division; recently announced it will build a $2 billion town in India. One of the first American developers to enter German market. Son and daughter also work for firm. Art collector elected chairman of the Museum of Modern Art in May. Also chairs Federal Reserve Bank of New York's board of directors. #271 GEORGE ARGYROS
Second-generation Greek-American born in Detroit, raised in Pasadena, Calif. Studied business and economics at Michigan State. Graduated to real estate 1962. Sold land at busy intersections to oil companies to set up gas stations. Today privately held Arnel & Affiliates owns, manages 5,200 apartments and 2 million square feet of commercial space. Founded private equity firm Westar Capital 1987; invests in pet products (Doskocil), coolers (Igloo), auto technology (Amerigon). Former U.S. ambassador to Spain raising money for John McCain's presidential run; enjoys sailing, skiing, hunting. #271 EDWARD DEBARTOLO JR.
Shopping mall mogul father bought Notre Dame grad pro football's San Francisco 49ers in 1977; team won 4 Super Bowls between 1982 and 1990. Eddie Jr. forced to exchange team with sister Denise DeBartolo York for large stake in Simon Property Group following federal bribery conviction in 2000. Today owns 15.5 million SPG shares worth $1.5 billion. Back in the game: new sports agency represents quarterback Troy Smith, last year's Heisman Trophy winner. Ohio native still focused on real estate; developing $1.4 billion worth of apartments, shopping centers across the U.S. Other holdings: pizza, water pumps. #271 GEORGE PEREZ
Argentinean-born son of Cuban parents started out as urban planner; moved into low-income housing development. Met partner, Stephen Ross ; cofounded Related Group of Florida 1979. Built affordable housing 1980s, later switched to high-end condo construction. Has constructed 55,000 apartments in Florida since 1982. Recently smacked by stagnating Miami market; estimated 2007 sales down 33% from last year to $2 billion. Expanding into Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando. Also Latin America: developing $3 billion worth of properties across 15 projects in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico. Democratic donor supporting Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. #117 A ALFRED TAUBMAN
Former Sotheby's chairman spent 9 months in jail on price-fixing charges in 2004. Tell-all account of prison experience, Threshold Resistance, was released this April. Sold off controlling stake in art auctioneer 2005. U. of Michigan dropout made first fortune in shopping malls. Public 1992. Today Taubman Centers real estate investment trust owns 23 malls in 11 states. Son, Robert, now in charge. Active philanthropist interested in funding research on cures for diabetes and Lou Gehrig's Disease. #286 IGOR OLENICOFF
Family escaped Soviet Union after revolution, settled in Iran. Immigrated to U.S. at age 15 with $800. USC grad worked as a Motown Records exec before turning to real estate 1973. Today Olen Properties owns 6.4 million square feet of commercial space and 11,800 residential units in L.A., Las Vegas and Florida. IRS claimed magnate owed $77 million in back taxes and penalties last year; settled for undisclosed amount. Son, Andrei, died 2005 in car crash; daughter, Natalia, donating to Russian orphanages in foundation bearing Andrei's name. To view our land for sale - Click Here |
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