Top Developers In Bay Area – Lennar Corp. – Rank 1

Lennar Corporation

Type – Public
Traded as – NYSE: LEN
S&P 500 Component
Industry – Construction
Founded – Miami, Florida[citation needed] Founder – Leonard Miller
Headquarters – Miami, Florida
Area served – 18 states across the United States
Key people – Stuart A. Miller (President and CEO)
Website – lennar.com

One of
America’s leading homebuilders

Since 1954, we’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds of thousands of families across America move into the next stage of their lives with a new home.

We build homes in some of the most desirable cities in the nation and for all stages of your life: first home, move-up home, or a multigenerational home to accommodate your changing family needs. Our communities cater to all lifestyles and include urban, suburban, active adult and golf course living.

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a Fortune 500 company based in Miami, Florida, United States, in the Fontainebleau area. It was founded in 1954.

Lennar started as a single-family homebuilder in Miami, Florida, in the early 1950s and it has grown by acquisition. It concentrates on single-family attached and detached homes and purchases land through unconsolidated entities. Rialto Capital Managements is part of Lennar’s financial arm. Rialto invests in real estate and manages funds that invest in real estate. It also provides mortgage financing, title insurance, and closing services. While Lennar is an originator, it sells its origination pipeline in the secondary market and doesn’t retain servicing.

In 2008, Lennar was the United States’ second largest homebuilder, constructing homes in 18  different states throughout the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia.

Its commercial operations are handled by its spinoff LNR Property corporation, now owned by Cerberus Capital Management.

History

Originally co-founded in 1954, under the name of F&R Builders by Gene Fisher and Arnold Rosen. Gene Fisher was replaced by Leonard Miller when Leonard invested $10,000 into F&R Builders. In 1971, F&R Builders went public under the new name of Lennar, a combination of Leonard and Arnold.

In 1997, Leonard Miller died and his son, Stuart Miller, replaced him as CEO and President of the company.

In 1997 it spun off LNR Property corporation, which handles the commercial operations,under control of Stuart Miller. According to corporate disclosure, Stuart Miller is “the sole director and officer of a family-owned corporation which owns stock that gives it voting control of both companies.”, referring to Lennar Corporation and LNR Property Corp.

In 2006 it was listed as a Fortune 200 company and one of Forbe’s America’s Best Managed companies.

In 2011, Lennar was defrauded by former businessman and convicted felon Barry Minkow in a stock manipulation scheme which caused the company’s stock to lose 26% of its value. Minkow was sentenced to five years in prison, and ordered to pay $584 million in restitution for the crime.