From the March issue: David Bistricer is CEO of Clipper Equity, a real estate firm started by his father in the 1950s. Today, the Orthodox Jewish family owns 60 buildings, with thousands of residential units, in New York and New Jersey. In 2005, the family firm bought Flatbush Gardens, a sprawling rent-controlled complex in Brooklyn. The company has also partnered with the Chetrit Group to buy five properties, including the Sony Building at 550 Madison, which the developers paid $1.1 billion for and are converting into condos topped by a $150 million penthouse. The firm is currently in the process of selling part of its portfolio in an initial public offering, with the goal of raising $144 million by launching a real-estate investment trust named Clipper Equity on the New York Stock Exchange. [more]