There have been a significant number of immigrants who have had great success in many spheres of economic activity in the United States. Real estate has been a major income earner for the American economy for many years and some of the richest people in the world are real estate moguls. The current American President also has a background in real estate. Immigrants have also been able to achieve monumental success in the field. Every person eats, and there have been success stories that have been attributed to groceries. The following are stories of two immigrants who have achieved success in  the two areas.

 Jorge M. Perez- The Related Companies

 

Jorge Perez is an American immigrant from Argentina. He is a billionaire whose net worth estimates to over US $3 billion. He earns his money from being a successful real estate developer and an author. During the past four decades, he has developed over 90,000 residences that are located in South Florida. He is also a longtime friend of the current president of the United States, Donald Trump. He is an art lover and also known to be a strong collector of boats. He is also known to have a number of islands.

His early life

Originally, Jorge Perez was a citizen of Argentina having been born there in 1949 to Cuban parents. He moved to the United States in 1969 where he lived in Columbia. He started his studies at The Long island University where he attained a degree. he later proceeded to the University of Michigan where he obtained a masters degree.

Success and Career

After graduation, Perez began working in Miami as an economic development director, this should be noted was not the path that ushered him to notoriety and success in real estate development. His career as a real developer officially started in 1979 when he founded the Related Companies together with Stephen Rose who was a New York builder.

His success story continues and today, he boasts owning over 50 condo towers all situated in various parts of Florida and Las Vegas.Making him one of the biggest and most successful real estate developers in the tropics.

Through his flagship the Related Companies, Perez is worth over $2.5 billion and ranks as amongst the wealthiest people in America. The company has gone on to win several awards under him.

 

John Catsimatidis- Gristedes Foods and Red Apple Group

John Catsimatidis is a Greek billionaire who was born in Greece but later moved to the United States with his parents as a child. According to Forbes, his net worth estimates to over $3.4 billion. Currently, he is an entrepreneur  and he also hosts a radio talk show. To achieve his current position as one of the richest people in the world, John is the president and the CEO of Gristedes, which is arguably the biggest grocery chain Manhattan, and it is where most of his wealth is derived. He is also the CEO and the president of the Red Apple Group, which is a real estate and aviation company.

His early life

John was born in 1948 in a Greek island known as Nisyros. As a six months old baby, his parents relocated to the United States where he grew up. His father worked as a houseboy in New York, which was a different vocation to what the one he had in Greece where he was a lighthouse operator.

When in college, he worked in a supermarket that was co-owned by both his friend Tony and his uncle. This did not last long however, as Tony decided to sell his share of the supermarket to Castimatidis. which caused him to drop out of college as he could not be able to study and run the supermarket at the same time.

His success

He opened a store in Broadway which later led him to buying other stores across the Bronx and Manhattan. Under the banner of Red Apple, he revolutionized the grocery store business model through the introduction of 24 hour shopping and free home deliveries. Ten years after opening the first store he had a chain of 27 stores which grossed an average of $ 40 million, that were scattered across Manhattan. In 1986 he bought Gristedes supermarkets which comprised of specialty stores, supermarkets and gas stations which are spread across the country.

Today, Catsimatidis is the owner of the Red Apple Group and serves as the CEO of Gristedes. In 2015, the Red Apple Group was amongst the top 200 largest private companies in the United States. He has gone on to win several awards. Apart from being a businessperson, he is also a host on WNYM radio station.

 

He is also a significant contributer to both the Republican and Democratic party and he has also been a contributor to the Clinton campaign for many years. He also at one time toyed with the idea of running for Mayor of New York but later backed out to support Michael Bloomberg’s bid.