George M. Marcus (born 1941) is a Greek-American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

real estate broker, the co-founder and chairman of

Marcus & Millichap Marcus & Millichap, Inc. is an American company that provides real estate brokerage, mortgage brokerage, research, and advisory services in the U.S. and Canada in the field of commercial property. It popularized the practice of listing propertie ...

, and founder and chairman of Essex Property Trust.

Early life

He was born George Moutsanas in Euboea, Greece, in 1941, and migrated to the US with his family in 1945, aged four. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from San Francisco State University (SFSU) in 1965.

Career

In 1971, he co-founded

, with William A. Millichap. Marcus is founder and chairman of Essex Property Trust. He owned 2.4% stake. During the 1980s he was a trustee of the California State University and is a member of the CSU Foundation's board of governors. He also served 12 years as a University of California regent.

Personal life

His wife Judy Otten Marcus graduated from SFSU in 1962 with a degree in recreation, and is a former physical education teacher. Marcus lives in Los Altos Hills, California.

Philanthropy

Marcus and his wife Judy donated $3 million to help found SFSU’s International Center for the Arts. In 2017, Marcus donated $1 million to Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. In 2018, George and Judy Marcus donated $25 million to SFSU to establish the George and Judy Marcus Funds for Excellence in the Liberal Arts. The funds will support students and faculty in liberal and creative art programs at the school and make enhancements in its Department of Creative Writing and the School of Cinema. This donation follows a $1.8 million donation the year before to establish an athletics scholarship fund at the school. In 2020, Marcus donated $2 million to the reconstruction of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the World Trade Center in New York City, adding to the $1 million that he had previously donated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, George M. 1941 births Living people American billionaires American businesspeople Greek billionaires People from Los Altos Hills, California San Francisco State University alumni