Board Chair John M. Sobrato: Higher Ed Trends, Real Estate, and Philanthropy

Voices of Santa Clara Podcast

John Michael Sobrato is Chair of the Board of Trustees at Santa Clara and Chairman of The Sobrato Organization. There are a few different parts of the Sobrato organization that we cover in this conversation.

First is the real estate business, which has developed over 21 million square feet of office, R&D and multifamily complexes since the 1960s. A few of the company’s notable office buildings include the former Apple Campus, the Service Now HQ, and offices for Amazon, Google, Netflix, Facebook, Pinterest, NVidia and more.

This enormous success has fueled the philanthropy arm of the business, Sobrato Philanthropies, which has deployed more than $552 million giving to education, career pathways, and essential human services, primarily in Silicon Valley. Every year since 2013, the Sobrato Family has been named the number one or two most generous corporation in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal ahead major high-tech companies. Additionally, both John A. and John M. Sobrato and their spouses have taken the Giving Pledge and stated that 100% of their wealth will go to the family foundation.

The third area of the business is Sobrato Capital, an investment arm which manages money in both public and private companies.

In this conversation, we touch on the evolving business model of Santa Clara, the ethics of profit maximization, lessons from the Sobrato family business, social impact, working through challenges on the Santa Clara Board of Trustees, the role of philanthropy versus government, and what John is most proud of in his career.

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