Who’s New On Power 100 — and Who’s Returned
Like Gatsby sending his chauffeur — dressed in a uniform of robin’s egg blue — out with a majestically scripted invitation, we have asked some new names to join us on this year’s Power 100.
Some have been invited because they’re doing what real estate power gurus do best, like Jonathan Goldstein of Cain International. Goldstein built 830 Brickell in Miami, the premier office product in South Florida, and he’s also constructing One Beverly Hills in Southern California, with a price tag ($5 billion) that would impress anyone in East or West Egg alike.
There are a few heavy hitters whose invitations we somehow lost in the mail who should have been on our list for a long time. Why hasn’t Apollo been on Power 100 before? Well, we don’t have a great answer. But when Marc Rowan is leading a $35 billion financing package for Meta to build millions of square feet of data centers that will change the face of AI, it feels crazy to leave him off. (There are plenty of other real estate-related reasons to want Apollo on, too, like converting its lending position on 5 Times Square to an equity one. But read their entry.)
Some names returned to the list. Richard LeFrak, for instance, has long been one of the most respected names in real estate, having built a 22,000-unit empire in New York, New Jersey, Florida and the West Coast. Given the scale and ambition of his SoLé Mia project in North Miami, the guy isn’t slowing down anytime soon. It certainly rated a hearty welcome back.
In the long, long ago — when his admirers were electric car-driving tree huggers rather than the MAGA chorus — Elon Musk rated an honorable mention on CO’s Power Los Angeles list, thanks to the transit tunnel Musk’s Boring Company was proposing underneath the city. This year he has stormed onto the No. 10 slot because he has been the animating force in the Trump administration’s take-no-prisoners approach to federal office use in Washington and nationwide. Few people have shaken up the office market as much as Elon Musk. (Perhaps not in a good way. But nobody could argue it hasn’t been a display of immense power.)
And at least one “new” invitation is categorized as such because he’s on Power 100 in a slightly different form. Stephen Ross was No. 1 last year in his role as chairman of Related Companies. But, when he created a different company (Related Ross) that has a different mission (South Florida) than his previous venture, it feels new. Having reshaped several urban landscapes, Ross will no doubt do the same in West Palm Beach now.
There were plenty of others. Blue Owl, Slate, Oak Row, Gilbane — too many to mention them all here. Welcome, one and all, to our little party.
Max Gross can be reached at mgross@commercialobserver.com.
