John Albert Sobrato (born May 23, 1939)David Louie
"Sobrato family makes mark on South Bay"

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV maint ...

, April 15, 2014. is an American billionaire real estate developer, and the founder of the

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

-based Sobrato Organization, a

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

development firm specializing in commercial and

residential real estate A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

.Members
at The Sobrato Organization website He has been listed as one of the richest Americans for many years, and he and his family have made large philanthropic donations to a variety of causes.

Early life

John Sobrato was born to Italian immigrants Ann Ainardi (1915-2000) John Mossimo Sobrato (1895 - 1952). Sobrato's parents met in the 1930s and married in 1938, even though he was 20 years her senior. Sobrato's father owned a popular

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

restaurant, John's Rendezvous. After his father's death from cancer in 1952, Sobrato's mother sold the restaurant and used the proceeds to begin investing in real estate.

Career

Sobrato began his own real estate investing in 1957, while still in college at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

. Beginning in 1972 he worked closely with another successful Silicon Valley investor, Carl Berg, for many years. He founded the Sobrato Organization in 1979; his son, John Michael Sobrato, took over leadership of the company in 1998. The company grew to hold more than 110 commercial buildings and more than 30 apartment complexes. In 2013, both father and son announced that they were moving away from managing the operations of the company to focus on charitable activities. Sobrato and his family are listed at #110 on the 2014

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...

list with an estimated net worth of $4.8

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

, and at #340 on The World's Billionaires list as of May 10, 2014. Sobrato and his son have both signed on the Warren Buffett's

Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, a ...

to donate their wealth for charitable purposes. By the close of 2014, the Sobrato Philanthropies (which encompass the Sobrato Family Foundation, family-directed giving, and corporate giving through The Sobrato Organization) had given more than $314 million in money and property. Major beneficiaries have included Santa Clara University, Sobrato High School, and

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. In 2020, Niche ...

. In 2015, he and his wife offered the biggest ever individual pledge to the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, worth $15 million.

Personal life

Sobrato and his wife Susan live in

Atherton, California Atherton () is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 7,188 as of 2020. Atherton is known for its wealth; in 1990 and 2019, Athe ...

. Sue and John have three children, John Michael Sobrato, Sheri Sobrato Brisson, and Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, five grandsons, and two granddaughters. His son John M. Sobrato is a minority owner of

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

References

External links

The Sobrato Organization"Meet John Sobrato, 2012 David Packard Award Winner"
Joint Venture Silicon Valley {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobrato, John A. 1939 births American billionaires American real estate businesspeople Giving Pledgers 21st-century philanthropists Living people People from Atherton, California Place of birth missing (living people) Santa Clara University alumni American people of Italian descent