John Arrillaga (born 1936) is an American real estate mogul and philanthropist. He is one of the largest landowners in Silicon Valley.
Biography
Early life
John Arrillaga is one of five children born into a lower-middle-class home with his mother, Freida, and father, Gabriel, who traced his roots to the Basque region. He attended Morningside High School in Inglewood, California and graduated in 1955. He attended Stanford University on a basketball scholarship, and was a first-team All-AAWU selection in 1960. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geography (no longer offered) in 1960, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta.
Career
In the 1960s, Arrillaga and business partner Richard Peery bought California farmland and converted it into office space. They became two of Silicon Valley’s biggest commercial landlords with more than 12,000,000 square feet (1,100,000 m2).
In 2006, he sold 5,300,000 sq ft (490,000 m2) of his real estate holdings for roughly $1.1 billion.
Philanthropy
He is well known for his generous support of Stanford University. The alumni center, the Frances C. Arrillaga Building, is named in memory of his first wife, and various other athletic facilities carry his surname. In May 2006, Arrillaga gave $100 million to Stanford.
In June 2013, he again donated to Stanford, writing a check for $151 million, making it the largest individual donation in the school’s history.
Personal life
Arrillaga is widowed, and is remarried to Gioia Fasi Arrillaga. The couple resides in Portola Valley, California. His daughter Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is married to Marc Andreessen, the successful entrepreneur who co-authored the Mosaic and Netscape web browsers, and who is co-founder of several web technology enterprises. His son John Arrillaga, Jr. is married to Justine Stamen Arrillaga, founder of the TEAK Fellowship.
| John Arrillaga | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1936 (age 80–81) |
| Residence | Portola Valley, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Stanford University |
| Net worth |  US $ 2.3 billion (June 2015)’ |
| Children | John Arrillaga, Jr., Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen(Daughter), Marc Andreessen (son-in-law) |
| Website | http://www.peery-arrillaga.com/ |
American businessman John Arillaga has an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion as of April 2016 according to Forbes. Most of his net worth is reported to be derived from his real estate business. He is considered as one of Silicon Valley’s popular landowners. His business involves developing real estates in Silicon Valley. Of Basque ancestry, John Arillaga attended Stanford University where he finished his degree in Geography in 1960. He is currently married to Frances C. Arrillaga with whom he has a daughter named Laura, and a son named John Jr. He has three grandsons named Benjamin, Jack and Finn through his son. John Arillaga Sr. currently lives in Portola Valley, California.
Together with Richard (Dick) Peery, John Arillaga purchased a vast farmland and later on, offices were built on it. Currently, the firm formed by the duo, the Peery-Arrillaga firm, manages less than a million square feet of office buildings as well as 290 acres of land in San Jose.
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