Real Estate Mogul

How do some of the most wealthy RE moguls create such substantial wealth? I understand that compensation can be quite high, but even at the top level of REIT comp (somewhere around 20M/year) that’s nowhere near enough to lead to the net worth that some of the famous moguls have.

82 Comments
 

Most wealthy RE moguls aren't c-suite type guys at REITs. The wealthiest people in real estate are typically the ones that went off & started their own firm and happened to be in the right place at the right time. That isn't to say that all these guys had was luck. Most of them are extremely intelligent and know how to raise capital. On top of that, they leverage their deals and when successful make a killing when they exit.

I don't know how true this is, but I feel like a lot of them aren't typically your rags to riches type. They don't necessarily have tens of millions of family wealth to deploy, however they may get a little jump start & have the smarts to turn a small family business into an empire.

Another thing about these real estate moguls is that you don't typically see young ones. Real Estate isn't tech where you can become an billionaire over night.

 
Most Helpful

>I don't know how true this is, but I feel like a lot of them aren't typically your rags to riches type. They don't necessarily have tens of millions of family wealth to deploy, however they may get a little jump start & have the smarts to turn a small family business into an empire.

This is very accurate in the family office space. The family became millionaires in some other business (very commonly construction on most of the US, the jewish NYC families were often in the garment business during the turn of the 20th century) and then deployed that capital into real estate (often to support the family business) only to find that you can make as much money on real estate as their operating business but with far far less employees and headaches.

Fisher's were originally general contractors Durst's were in the garment business Kaufman's were in the garment business Stern's originally sold parakeets which turned into a pet supply company Rose family, another garment business Tisch's, surprise surprise another garment business Rudin's started with a general store chain Tishman, department stores

It takes a lot of capital to invest in real estate so its often those who made money elsewhere (with lower barriers to entry) who are the "real estate moguls" you see today. Also keep in mind all of these families are not rags to riches in one generation. They were wealthy enough to own their own business over 100 years ago, investing in NYC when it was a factory city. Now 100 years later, with the power of compounding interest, the families are the moguls you see today but built on the backs of a few dollars spent a long long time ago..

 
"SE RE 2016" Most wealthy RE moguls aren't c-suite type guys at REITs.

This goes for literally everything. The way to build "generational wealth" (as someone on here termed it nicely) is to own. Own a piece of a business, of fund upside, whatever that may be. Yes, you can make a lot of money pulling in those 2-3mm cash bonuses every year, but that won't make someone a "mogul". The wealthiest finance folks own a piece of a fund. Own their own bank. Etc. Wealthy people in general own their business. That's the only way to generate real wealth

 
"Associate 1 in AM - Other"How do some of the most wealthy RE moguls create such substantial wealth?

Through entrepreneurship, not by working at a REIT.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

The moguls are a different breed from your typical real estate entrepreneur worth 50+ million

One example I’ve seen is a guy who is worth around $70 mil but isn’t Tishman level of rich. He started out building single asset senior housing with friends and family money with extremely attractive promotes and took fees as well. He would build, stabilize, refinance, pay back his investors + their required return with the refinance proceeds to become the sole owner of the building. Then he took what little cash he had and did it all over again. You basically double down over and over again and eventually you have a handful of properties with $70 mil of equity.

I’m simplifying the process, but this is one way it’s done. Cheap Country Club equity + high leverage development built at such an attractive basis you can take out most or all of the equity with the stabilized financing + timing works out such that you can do it multiple times within a bull market

Array
 

You basically nailed it but it’s not as generous as 50/50 (at least in my short experience). One I’ve seen recently is a GP who puts in 10% of equity, but takes 30% of cash flow above an 8% IRR (this was not for development however). Look at CrowdStreet as well if you’d like to see how these developers structure their promotes with non-institutional money

Array
 

Work a "Country Club" type real estate shop. We are getting 6-8% pref, 50/50 on the back end. Charging a 1-2% acquisition fee and 5% to manage the GC during the development process. But the real money is in your basis. It's about your ability to have hyper local knowledge of the land development code, property owners and construction costs. We have made some of our investors very wealthy over the years, so the money flows both ways. Good luck!

 
"Surfboard" What net worth do you need to achieve to be considered a mogul? over a B? I have a lot of low 9 figure guys in my data base and they seem pretty comfortable..

I think it is more of a range than a hard and fast number. Is the person dominant in their market? Someone worth $250mm in NYC isn't a mogul, there are plenty of guys hitting those numbers. If you're a developer in Austin and you're worth that? Then you're probably one of the bigger players.

Also sort of matters how you got there, what you're doing with the money, how active you still are, etc.

 
"Ozymandia"Is the person dominant in their market?

That is how I would define it too, although perhaps one would need to be dominant in a couple markets or at least a force to be reckoned with wherever they go.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
  • High Net Worth (HNW) individuals are classified as someone with $1MM in liquid assets.
  • Very High Net Worth (VHNW) individuals are classified as someone with $5MM in liquid assets.
  • Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) individuals are classified as someone with $30MM in liquid assets.

I would venture to say that anyone that owns positive cash flowing real estate equal to 3-5x the UHNW classification could be considered a RE Mogul ($90MM-$150MM of RE property). The discussion then becomes: Do those figures include debt or not? Hmmm.

 
"umioryi60" . The discussion then becomes: Do those figures include debt or not? Hmmm.

Absolutely not. If you're "worth" a billion dollars but you have 99.9% leverage, then you aren't wealthy at all. Any time someone quotes you a number that isn't net of debt, especially in a high leverage-reliant industry like RE, laugh them out of the room

 

Sam Zell is the ultimate business man and RE pro. If you are younger and looking to learn about business and how to become a millionare, read his book and listen to everything he says on Youtube. even his bad bets will shed light on how to think within the constructs of today's and yesterday's economy, and how to adapt and what to watch out for in the future

 

Atque cum laborum corporis repellendus facere. Est ut quia cumque velit et.

Itaque fugiat in error velit earum consequuntur. Enim est vitae distinctio consequatur. Et reprehenderit unde eos omnis deserunt ullam ratione. Molestiae unde id cumque esse. In tenetur non accusantium et esse voluptas. Iure aut dolorum totam facere libero quis nam nulla. Voluptatibus voluptas non et sed quia.

Rerum doloremque quidem cupiditate. Sed consequatur dolores quibusdam nemo optio quam. Aperiam et nesciunt cupiditate earum. Magni perferendis natus non ut. Alias ipsa nostrum voluptatem temporibus laudantium.

 

Nemo minus nobis expedita perspiciatis accusantium. Modi sed consequatur quas totam. Suscipit neque nostrum qui quo et qui eligendi. Eaque nam asperiores eius maiores ea mollitia. Reprehenderit consequatur iure voluptas quisquam omnis ipsum odit.

Qui illum aut sint esse quaerat omnis et. Sequi ut cumque perferendis dolorem hic cumque enim qui. Dolorem mollitia et fugiat rerum beatae ut laborum.

Architecto eligendi est a dolorum suscipit. Aut nisi voluptas sequi vel.

Nostrum molestiae velit qui suscipit. Ducimus tenetur necessitatibus qui esse consequuntur voluptatibus error assumenda. Ipsum itaque fugiat maiores eum cumque. Eius cumque corporis repudiandae tempora repellendus. Illum vel earum assumenda in quos veniam qui. Optio error deleniti molestiae qui. Non impedit deleniti sunt odit natus quaerat ut.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”