1. Bechtel Family
Warren A. Bechtel started
Bechtel engineering and construction company in 1923. He was only 25 years old.
The Bechtel family is known for famous projects such as the Hoover Dam, the
Channel Tunnel, Crossrail London and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Warren A.
Bechtel died unexpectedly during the Hoover Dam Project, so his son Stephen D.
Bechtel Jr. took over in 1960.
2. Berg Family
Berg & Berg Enterprises was founded by
brothers Clyde and Carl Berg. Carl Berg, former partner of John Sobrato, owns
Microsoft’s Mountain View Campus (pictured below) and some buildings leased by
Apple. He acquired Mission West properties in 1997 and sold it for $1.3B in
2012. Carl’s latest project, Berg Pharma, helps find modern treatments for some
of the world’s most widespread diseases.
3. Sobrato Family
John A. Sobrato started the
Sobrato Organization in 1979. But that wasn’t the first company founded by this
famous family. The senior Sobrato, John Mossimo Sobrato, owned a popular San
Francisco restaurant called John’s Rendezvous. After his father’s death in
1952, Ann Sobrato sold the restaurant and used the proceeds to begin investing
in real estate. John A. Sobrato’s son took over the Sobrato Organization in
1979, and by 2013 they both announced that they were moving away from managing
the operations of the company to focus on charitable activities. In 2015, John
A. Sobrato and his wife offered the biggest ever pledge to the University of
San Francisco worth $15 million.
4. Shorenstein Family
Walter Shorenstein bought
Shorenstein Co in 1960. At that time it was named Milton Meyer and Co, he
changed the name in 1989. Walter passed away in 2010, and at the time of his
death, Shorenstein Company owned 130 buildings totaling at least 28,000,000
square feet of office space. Walter’s son, Douglas W. Shorenstin, ran the
company until this past November, when he lost his battle with cancer. Some
high profile properties that the Shorenstein Company purchased was the
Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York City, Chicago’s John Hancock Tower and New
York’s Park Avenue Tower.
5. Wallace Family
Wallace Realtors was opened in
1928 by father-son duo William and Ed Wallace. Ed’s son, Clark, joined his
father and grandfather’s company in 1958. One of their biggest deals was the
sale of the 5,000 remaining acres of the 8,000-acre Moraga ranch to Utah Construction
and Mining Co for $4M in 1953. Today, the company is still run by Ed’s son,
Clark.
