For Jorge Pérez, immigration is a personal issue.
The 75-year-old billionaire condo developer was born to Cuban parents in Argentina, eventually landing in Florida in 1968 at the age of 19. After college, he got his start as an urban planner in Miami, became a U.S. citizen in 1976 and then launched Related Group, the real estate firm that has made him his fortune.
But after more than four decades in the luxury condo business, Pérez faces new challenges thanks to a former friend.
“I used to be very good friends with Donald Trump before he went into politics. Then we realized we have very different views,” Pérez told Forbes earlier this year. “One of the things that worries us is the uncertainty. We’re going through a bit of a roller coaster.”
That uncertainty largely stems from the impacts the president’s tariff policies will have on construction costs—and how his crackdown on immigration will affect labor. But as Forbes’ Giacomo Tognini writes, Pérez isn’t giving up on the American Dream just yet. “We’ve always been skilled at adapting to market shifts.”
Read more about how Pérez is navigating the construction landscape in the wake of President Trump’s policies here, and keep scrolling below for more great journalism from the Forbes newsroom. |
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