LeFrak, Ross and Stern among wealthiest U.S. developers

Top dogs in New York City real estate made a strong showing in a recent roundup of the world’s wealthiest billionaires.

Topping a list in which 29 real estate heavyweights made an appearance is Donald Bren, the founder of the Irvine Company, who was valued by Forbes as the word’s 69th wealthiest person with a net worth of $14.4 billion as of this month. Bren’s portfolio covers both commercial and real estate property in lucrative West Coast property markets like Orange County, San Diego, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. His firms also control the Hyatt Center and a portion of the UBS Tower in Chicago.

New York City-based developer Richard LeFrak was listed as the next biggest real estate billionaire, whose portfolio of dozens of New York and New Jersey properties, combined with estates in California and Washington state, bring his worth to $6.1 billion, up from Forbes’ estimate in January at $5.6 billion. He’s best known for LeFrak City, the 5,000-unit apartment complex he built in Queens, as well as the 16 million square feet of commercial, residential and retail spaces he owns in Newport.

Other New York City real estate billionaires include Stephen Ross, founder of the Related Companies and valued at $5.4 billion; Leonard Stern, valued at $4.2 billion; and Donald Trump, valued at $3.9 billion. [Forbes] — Angela Hunt