Jorge M. Pérez

“I never saw myself as a businessman; it was more about my desire to do things on my own and to create.”
– Jorge Pérez, AskMen Magazine

Jorge Pérez was born in Argentina to Cuban-exiled parents. His family later relocated to Colombia where his parents ran a pharmaceutical company.  Instead of joining the family business, Pérez moved to the United States where he studied at C.W. Post College and later received a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan.

Pérez worked for the city of Miami for three years as an urban planner and development consultant. In 1979, he co-founded The Related Group of Florida with investor and fellow University of Michigan alumni, Steven M. Ross.

Since the beginning, The Related Group has led South Florida’s development, often by being the first to begin development in emerging neighborhoods. Pérez started by building affordable, multi-family apartments in low-income neighborhoods such as Miami’s Little Havana and Homestead. In the early 1990s, he began developing condominiums, which revitalized the formerly run-down neighborhoods of Miami Beach and West Palm Beach.

The Related Group is now the leading developer of multi-family residences in the United States. The firm has built and managed more than 90,000 apartments and condominiums and is the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States with a development portfolio of projects worth $20 billion. Forbes estimates Pérez’s personal net worth at $2.6 billion.

Pérez has been showered with awards and recognition including being named one of the country’s top 25 most influential Hispanics by TIME magazine. In 2006, he became the first American developer to receive the prestigious “Icon in Real Estate Award of Excellence” at the industry event MIPIM.

Pérez shared his real estate expertise in the book Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market.

An avid art collector, in 2011 he pledged $35 million in cash and artwork over ten years to the Miami Art Museum, which then agreed to rename it the Perez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County. In 2012, he and his wife signed on to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, which asks billionaires give at least half of their fortunes to charity. In 2019, the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation launched the CreARTE Grants Program, which has pledged $1 million in grants every year to artists and organizations in Miami.

To learn more about Latino entrepreneurs, explore the report State of Latino Entrepreneurship.

Updated September 2024