Rank #717
John A. Sobrato & family
Net worth $5.8B
Real estate · United States
- Born
- May 23, 1939
- Age
- 87
- Source
- Real estate
- Residence
- Atherton, California
- Citizenship
- United States
- Marital status
- Married
- Children
- 3
- Education
- Bachelor of Arts/Science, Santa Clara University
Net worth over time
Biography
- Real estate mogul John A. Sobrato began selling homes in Palo Alto while he was still a student at Santa Clara University.
- He later worked with his mother to develop industrial properties, and founded his own real estate company in 1979.
- The Sobrato Organization owns over 4.7 million square feet of office space in Silicon Valley, with tenants like Netflix, plus about 6,450 apartments.
- Sobrato is chairman emeritus of his Cupertino-based firm, while his son, John M. Sobrato, serves as chairman of the board.
- In 2017, he pledged $100 million to Santa Clara University, his alma mater, for a new STEM education center.
- Sobrato's mom started the family's real estate empire in the 1950s, when she sold her late husband's restaurant and bought property south of San Francisco.
- Sobrato aspired to be an engineer but almost flunked out of college; he switched his major to business and was on the dean's list every semester thereafter.