Rick Caruso

Rick Caruso has stayed busy since the L.A. fires tore through the Pacific Palisades and Altadena in January. 

The billionaire founder and chairman of his namesake development firm — and the runner-up in the last L.A. mayoral election — has been the keynote speaker at numerous engagements throughout this year, such as the Connect L.A. 2025 conference in July and as Pepperdine Law School’s commencement speaker. He’s also done myriad podcast appearances and interviews, discussing his entrepreneurial mindset and lambasting L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’s administration in equal measure.

In early February, Caruso launched Steadfast LA, a nonprofit coalition of private sector and civic leaders aimed at collaborating with local authorities to cut red tape, bolster communication and lead recovery initiatives in the wake of the wildfires. That includes establishing a $1 million grant program with Banc of California for small businesses affected by the blazes, which in early September announced its first tranche of awards to three businesses in Altadena. 

America’s 255th richest man, according to Forbes, is also laser-focused on reopening his 125,000-square-foot Palisades Village mixed-use plaza by mid-2026. Caruso, as well as Corrine Verdery, who took over as his firm’s CEO in 2022, argue that rebuilding a community is not just about homes, it’s about bringing people together in shared spaces.

“People want to congregate,” Caruso said at a press event at Palisades Village in May. “They want to shop, they want to dine, they want to gather, they want to have a cup of coffee with their friends and their family. So how do we accelerate all of this? It’s not only about rebuilding a town, it’s about an acceleration of the rebuilding.”