William J. McMorrow
Chairman and CEO- Years with Firm:
- 24
- Years in Real Estate:
- 36
William McMorrow is chairman and chief executive officer of Kennedy Wilson, which he purchased in 1988 as a real estate auction company. He is the architect of the company’s expansion into an international firm offering a comprehensive array of real estate investments and services, with 23 offices in the U.S., Europe and Japan as well as more than 300 employees. Kennedy Wilson has assets under management of more than $12 billion, including over 50 million sq. ft. of office, retail, industrial and residential properties throughout the U.S. and Japan.
In November of 2009, the company went public and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. McMorrow rang the Opening Bell in celebration of this event on April 14, 2010. Kennedy Wilson Japan went public in 2002 and is currently listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In 2010 and 2011, the company raised approximately $4.8 billion of equity for the parent company and joint ventures to pursue its investment program. In 2011, the company completed the sale and issuance of $250 million in aggregate principal amount of senior notes and issued 11.7 million shares of common stock to institutional investors for gross proceeds of $127.3 million. Additionally, Kennedy Wilson completed $5.1 billion of real estate investment transactions in 2010 and 2011.
In 2011, Kennedy Wilson Europe was established with offices in Dublin and London, currently employing a team of 18 professionals. In December of 2011, the company completed the purchase of a $2.3 billion UK-based loan portfolio, the largest European loan portfolio acquisition in the current cycle. Kennedy Wilson currently has $4.5 billion of assets under management in Europe.
In addition to his real estate experience, Mr. McMorrow has more than 17 years of banking experience. Prior to joining Kennedy Wilson, he was the executive vice president and chairman of the Credit Policy Committee at Imperial Bancorp and held senior positions with a variety of financial services firms, including Fidelity Bank in Pennsylvania, where he was a senior vice president for eight years.
Mr. McMorrow attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He serves on the Executive Board of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and is involved in numerous Southern California charities, including Chrysalis, which honored him with the Spirit of Chrysalis Award in 2005, the Rape Treatment Center, the Village School and Loyola High School, which inducted him as a Cahalan Award recipient in 2010. Additionally, Mr. McMorrow is a member of the Loyola High School Board of Regents.
