Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Jorge M. Pérez
Argentine-American businessman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Jorge M. Pérez (born 17 October 1949) is an Argentine-American businessman, philanthropist, and art collector.[1] He is the chairman and CEO of The Related Group, a Miami-based real estate development company,[2] which he founded in 1979. The company develops and manages apartments across the United States and internationally. In October 2018, he was ranked 316th place on the Forbes 400 list, with a net worth of US$2.6 billion, and 1,468th on the Forbes list of billionaires, with his net worth estimated at $2.6 billion as of August 2025.[3]
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Remove ads
Early life
Pérez was born on 17 October 1949, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Cuban parents of Spanish descent.[4][5] Before relocating to Miami in 1968, he spent several years in Bogotá, Colombia, where his parents, who were originally from Cuba, emigrated in 1959.[6] Before the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and the subsequent nationalization of the country's private businesses, his father had served as the head of a Cuban pharmaceutical company.[7]
In 1972, Pérez graduated from LIU Post (bachelor's degree in economics), while in 1976, he obtained a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan.[8][9]
Remove ads
Career
Summarize
Perspective
Pérez began his career as an economic development director with the city of Miami.[10][11]
In 1979, he founded the Related Group in partnership with New York real estate developer Stephen M. Ross. He initially focused on building and operating low-income multi-family apartments in Miami. By the mid-1980s, the company had become the largest affordable housing builder in Florida.[10]
He later expanded into rental apartments and high-rise condo developments in the Southern United States. Pérez has developed or owned 50 condo towers in South Florida, Fort Myers, and Las Vegas.[12] During his career, he has developed or managed more than 90,000 residential units, primarily in South Florida.[13] He has collaborated with designers, architects, and firms, including Philippe Starck, Cesar Pelli, Arquitectonica, David Rockwell, Rem Koolhaas, and Karim Rashid.[14][15][16]
According to the Hispanic Business 500, the Related Group had $2.1 billion in revenue in 2004.[17]
Pérez has been a long-time member and supporter of the Democratic Party. Among his political activities, he participated in the Democratic Party's fundraising, advised the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, on Cuba, and contributed to the fundraising campaigns of two Democratic Party presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.[18]
During the 2008 financial crisis, some of the Related Group's projects experienced financial difficulties as buyers defaulted or banks restricted lending.[19] Pérez established a hedge fund to acquire distressed real estate.[20] Forbes estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion before the 2008 financial crisis. As of March 2013, his wealth was estimated at $1.2 billion, coinciding with a resurgence in Florida real estate prices.[1]
His firm has developed projects in Argentina, Brazil, Panama, Uruguay, and Mexico.[21] Completed skyscraper condo projects include 50 Biscayne, Icon Brickell, Icon South Beach, Murano at Portofino, and Paraiso Bay.
In 2019, the company completed a 400-unit luxury apartment project in Tampa, Florida,[22] while announcing plans for the construction of over 700 units in West Florida.[23] In 2017, The Related Group opened an office in Dallas with plans for apartment development in Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and major Texas markets.[21] In 2018, The Related Group and Block Capital Group broke ground on the Bradley, a 175-unit apartment building in Miami featuring interior design by Kravitz Design.[24] In 2018, The Related Group completed Icon Midtown, a high-rise apartment building in Atlanta, marking Pérez's first completed development in the state of Georgia.[25] Wynwood 25, a partnership between Pérez and East End Capital, was scheduled for completion in 2019 and includes 289 rental apartments, ranging from 400 to 1,200 square feet.[26]
Remove ads
Art collecting and philanthropy
Summarize
Perspective
In December 2011, Pérez donated $35 million in cash and art to the Miami Art Museum to support the construction of its Herzog & de Meuron-designed building.[27] The museum was subsequently renamed the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).[28][29] In 2016, Pérez donated 200 works of Cuban contemporary art valued at $5 million from his collection to the museum, while pledging an additional $10 million donation to support the acquisition of works by Cuban and Latin American artists, as well as to grow the museum’s endowment.[30] Furthermore, he has pledged to donate his entire collection to the museum after his death.[31]
In 2019, Pérez opened El Espacio 23, a contemporary art space in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami. The space exhibits curated shows from the Pérez Collection, is open to the public with free admission, and includes apartments for artist and curator residency programs.[32][33]
In September 2021, Pérez donated $33 million to the Miami Foundation, an organization supporting arts, culture, education, and social justice in Miami. The donation came from the proceeds of the sale of his waterfront estate, Villa Cristina.[34]
In April 2025, Pérez and his wife, Darlene, donated Joan Mitchell’s triptych Iva to the Tate Modern in London.[35] The couple also endowed a curatorial post at Tate for African art,[36][37] and plan future donations of works by African and Latin American artists from their collection.[38]
Personal life
Pérez resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Darlene Pérez. The couple has four children.[39][40][41]
US President and real estate entrepreneur Donald Trump wrote the foreword for Pérez's 2008 book, Powerhouse Principles.[42] Despite collaborating with Trump on his book, Pérez later publicly criticized his presidency and policies.[43]
Selected works
- Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market. New York: New American Library. 2008. ISBN 0-451-22705-0
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads