Edward Phillip Roski, Jr. (born December 25, 1938) is an American real estate businessman in Los Angeles, California. He is the President and Chairman of the Board for Majestic Realty Co.
Biography
Roski was born to a poor, immigrant Polish family in Oklahoma and raised in Southern California. He is a graduate of Loyola High School and the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, where in 1962 he earned a BS degree with emphasis on finance and real estate. He is also a Vietnam veteran and a United States Marine and served as an officer of the Marines from 1962 to 1966. While attending the University of Southern California he was a member of the Gamma Tau Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. In 1994, Roski was awarded the Oxford Cup, the highest honor a brother of Beta Theta Pi can receive.
Roski was behind an attempt to build a stadium in Industry, California to attract a NFL team until the Rams returned with a stadium project of their own. He has been suggested to be the developer of a NFL stadium in Las Vegas to be occupied by the relocated Oakland Raiders and UNLV Rebels Football NCAA team. Roski is a minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and half-owner, with Phillip Anschutz, of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. Roski has also been cited in local newspapers as the owner of Silverton Las Vegas (formerly known as Boomtown Las Vegas) in Enterprise, Nevada and in 2001 made a substantial offer to buy the former Las Vegas Hilton.
Philanthropy
Roski is a member of the University of Southern California Board of Trustees; he was elected chairman of the board in 2007 and succeeded Stanley Gold as chairman in 2008. The USC Roski School of Fine Arts was renamed after Roski’s wife, Gayle, following a $23 million donation to the school in 2006.
He serves on the boards of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Arts, the California Science Center, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the L.A. Sports & Entertainment Commission, Loyola High School and the National Geographical Society. Edward and Gayle Roski both received honorary PhDs from the University of Southern California in 2013. His wife Gayle Garner is an artist and serves as chairman of art for the Cathedral of Los Angeles.[10] Roski is also a generous supporter of the Catholic Education Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies.
- Through his Majestic Realty, Los Angeles-based developer Edward Roski Jr., owns more than 78 million square feet of real estate across the country.
- Majestic Realty is developing a 441-acre business park on the site of Pennsylvania’s former Bethlehem Steel plant.
- Roski’s father founded Majestic Realty in 1948.
- Roski Jr. helped lead development of the Staples Center in downtown L.A., and is a minority owner of the L.A. Kings and the L.A. Lakers.
- In 2016, Roski and his wife, Gayle, announced a $25 million gift to endow an eye institute at the University of Southern California.
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