NINE CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE BILLIONAIRES
1. DONALD BREN
The richest man in American real estate is 72-year-old Newport Beach Resident Donald Bren. This self-made millionaire with a net worth of $4.3 billion can best be described as “America's richest landlord,” as well as one of real estate’s great philanthropists. He is 6th wealthiest real estate billionaire and the 122nd richest man in the world.
Bren is chairman of The Irvine Company, a privately held real estate investment company best known for the balanced, sustainable, quality communities it has created on the 93,000-acre Irvine Ranch in Orange County. Finished plots sell for more than $1 million an acre. Also 400 office buildings, 35 shopping centers, 80
Mortgage Home Price Index. Nationally, home values increased 11.8 percent on an annual basis, from the first quarter of 2004 through the first quarter of 2005.
California saw 23.44 percent price appreciation during that period. In Santa Monica in 2005, 134 single family
420 N PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY,
REDONDO BEACH, CA 90277
REAL ESTATE ALSO GIVES BACK
Bren is chairman of The Irvine Company, a privately held real estate investment company best known for the balanced, sustainable, quality communities it has created on The Irvine Ranch in Orange County.
The son of a movie producer, a former Marine, and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from the University of Washington - Bren began his real estate career in 1958 with a $10,000 loan to build his first house. This exponentially grew into a home-building company, which he sold to International Paper for $34 million in 1970. Bren bought into the Irvine Ranch in 1977 with Al Taubman, Herb Allen, and Max Fisher for $337 million. As the Irvine Company, they developed and planned communities that cover 200 square miles of Orange County. He quietly purchased stock in the company, becoming the majority shareholder in1983; sole shareholder 1996. He expanded upon this empire by taking the apartment portion public as REIT and buying it back at a 21% premium.
Its 93,000 acres stretch from the Pacific Ocean 22 miles inland to the Cleveland National Forest. Finished plots on the 93,000-acre tract for more than $1 million an acre. Also included in the vast complex are 400 office buildings, 35 shopping centers, 80 apartment complexes and two luxury hotels. “My dream is that The Irvine Ranch will be known and celebrated as much for what is not
It’s money time. Every year, Forbes – the magazine of CEOs and millionaires - announces their list of the richest individual businessmen and women in the world.
According to the Forbes 2005 list of the “The World’s Richest People,” 46 out of the 691 billionaires (7 percent) made their money in the real estate industry, and not one real estate tycoon is in the top 30.
The list also includes an additional 18 billionaires (3 percent) made their fortune in diversified industries and investments that included significant holdings in real estate. Last year there, were only 587 billionaires in the world, 37 of whom made their money in real estate.
More details on these property titans: 17 of the 46 real estate billionaires (37 percent) inherited and then grew their fortunes, 29 of them (63 percent) are self-made billionaires. almost half (47 percent) of the real estate billionaires live in the United States, with eight living in California (17 percent), four in New York (9 percent), and three in Illinois (7 percent).
As you wheel down the list, keep in mind that no real estate mogul came close to equaling the finance of Mr. Microsoft, Bill Gates, who is No. 1 on the list for the 11th straight year with $46.5 billion, or the $44 billion of investor Warren Buffett (#2)…but the numbers are indeed impressive.
46 Billionaires Who Made Their Fortunes in Real Estate:
1. Raymond, Thomas, and Walter Kwok (#31, $10.9 billion), Hong Kong
2. Lee Shau Kee (#38, $9.3 billion), Hong Kong
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* Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the greatest median home price increases in 2004 compared with the same period a year ago were: Adelanto, 72.6 percent; Hesperia, 63.2 percent; Inglewood, 55.9 percent; Port Hueneme, 52.7 percent; Hercules, 49.3 percent; West Sacramento, 49.1 percent; Bellflower, 48.9 percent; San Bernardino, 48 percent;
