Rick Caruso and Corinne Verdery

It’s been almost two years since developer Rick Caruso nearly beat out former Congresswoman Karen Bass in an outside bid to be mayor of Los Angeles. 

It’s still unclear if that was the end of the billionaire philanthropist’s political aspirations. Yet while his campaign was unsuccessful, it confirmed Caruso as one of the most influential voices in real estate in Southern California, and in the City of Los Angeles in particular.

Caruso started his career as a real estate lawyer in corporate finance before launching Caruso Affiliated Holdings in 1987. It has grown into one of the nation’s largest and most successful private real estate companies, boasting a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 20 percent since its inception.

The company owns and operates multi-family and mixed-use assets, as well as trophy resort hotel Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, but the Caruso calling card is in retail and shopping centers. The firm claims its retail portfolio excels in terms of sales per square foot at three times the industry average. Its flagship property, The Grove in L.A.’s Fairfax District, consistently ranks at or near the top of lists of the country’s highest sales-generating shopping centers. 

In addition to real estate, Caruso has been one of the region’s most active philanthropists and civic activists. For example, Caruso made a $50 million commitment to the Pepperdine University law school, which has been renamed the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. He previously served as the youngest commissioner in the city’s history for the L.A. Department of Water and Power, and has also served as president of the L.A. Police Commission, and as chair of USC’s Board of Trustees.

Due to his mayoral run, Caruso stepped down as CEO, and tapped chief development officer Corinne Verdery for the lead role in September 2022. Earlier in her career, she spearheaded the development and entitlement process of the Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Beverly Hills, and also led NBCUniversal’s 25-year multibillion-dollar expansion. Verdery joined Caruso in 2016 to oversee acquisitions, design, construction and tenant services. She led the Rosewood Miramar Beach project, as well as the Palisades Village shopping mall development and the 333 La Cienega mixed-use project.

Now, she’s focused on doubling the size of Caruso in Southern California.