The world got another inside look at the ultra-rich this week, as Forbes released its Forbes 400 list of America's wealthiest people.
It is searchable by area, industry, age and gender, so we decided to take a look at some of the California commercial real estate heavy hitters who made this year's list. From the gleaming spires of San Francisco's FiDi, through the venture capital enclaves of Silicon Valley and all the way down to Los Angeles and San Diego, these are the men (no women were on the California CRE list) who have made their fortunes building the Golden State.
We've included their best-known CRE projects, estimated worth, ranking on Forbes list and their rank on the 400's California commercial real estate list. The methodology Forbes used to compile their ranking is explained here.
John Arrillaga
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California CRE list rank: 9
Forbes rank: 342 (tied)
Estimated net worth: $2.5B
Best-known projects: Stanford Stadium, millions of SF of Silicon Valley commercial land developed with his partner, Richard Peery.
George Argyros
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California CRE list rank: 8
Forbes rank: 342 (tied)
Estimated net worth: $2.5B
Best-known projects: Former ambassadorship to Spain, owning the Seattle Mariners and millions of SF of office space in Southern California.
Richard Peery
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California CRE list rank: 7
Forbes rank: 306
Estimated net worth: $2.8B
Best-known projects: Stanford Stadium, Stanford Industrial Park
Jay Paul
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California CRE rank on list: 6
Forbes rank: 239
Estimated net worth: $3.5B
Best-known projects: 181 Fremont, CityView Plaza
Donald Sterling
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California CRE list rank: 5
Forbes rank: 207
Estimated net worth: $3.8B
Best-known projects: Sterling Plaza, the Los Angeles Clippers
Rick Caruso
California CRE list rank: 4
Forbes rank: 168
Estimated net worth: $4.2B
Best-known projects: Miramar, Palisades Village, The Grove
Edward Roski Jr.
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California CRE list rank: 3
Forbes rank: 119
Estimated net worth: $5.5B
Best-known projects: Redevelopment of Staples Center, Bethlehem Steel
John A. Sobrato
California CRE list rank: 2
Forbes rank: 85
Estimated net worth: $6.7B
Best-known for: Dominating the Silicon Valley office space sector, with tenants including Netflix, Amazon and Apple.
Donald Bren
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California CRE list rank: 1
Forbes rank: 32
Estimated net worth: $17B
Best-known for: Everything marquee-level from the Irvine Co., including Market Square, Crescent Village and RiverView
