Jorge Perez

Background

Pérez was born in 1949 in Argentina to Cuban parents of Spanish origin, and lived in Colombia before moving to Miami in 1968.

Education

University of Michigan.

Career

He is graduate of Long Island University C.W. Post Campus, and the University of Michigan. Pérez was an economic development director with the city of Miami before he decided to enter the real estate business and became a developer. In 1979, he founded The Related Companies with New York builder Stephen M. Ross.

Pérez built his fortune by building and operating low-income multifamily apartments across Miami, then branched off into rental apartments before becoming one of the most prolific high-rise condo builders in the Southern United States.

Pérez has owned 50 condo towers in various stages of completion in South Florida, Fort Myers and Las Vegas. He is known as the "Donald Trump of the Tropics".

The Related Companies had $2.1 billion in revenue in 2004, putting Pérez at the top of the Hispanic Business 500 during this period of time. He is an active Democratic fund raiser.

He advised Bill Clinton on Cuba during his presidency and was an active fundraiser for the failed presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In 2008, he also hosted and raised money for Barack Obama after he became the Democratic presidential nominee. On November 18, 2007, The Related Companies demolished the Sheraton at Bal Harbour to make way for a new project The Sheraton at Bal Harbour, originally called the Americana, was created by architect Morris Lapidus, who also designed the Fontainebleau Miami Beach and Eden Roc hotels.

These iconic buildings inspired Miami Modern Architecture (MiMo).

However, with the financial crisis of 2007–2010, many of The Related Companies" projects were in financial strife as buyers, many of whom were speculators, refused to settle on their apartments or banks refused to grant home or property investment loans to the buyers. As a separate business, Pérez set up a hedge fund to buy distressed real estate.

Before the financial crisis of 2007, Forbes pegged his wealth at $1.3 billion. As of March 2013, his wealth stands at 1.2 billion with a recent steady resurgence in Florida real estate prices.

Achievements

• The Jorge M. Pérez Architecture Center at the University of Miami was named after him. Pérez Art Museum Miami, to which he donated money and art, is named in his honor.