John Arrillaga

John Arrillaga is a wealthy American businessman who made his money through real estate. He is one of the most prominent landowners in Silicon Valley. Arillaga is of Basque ancestry.

In the 1960s, Arrillaga and business partner Richard Peery bought California farmland and converted it into office space. They became two of Silicon Valley's biggest commercial landlords with more than convert|12000000|sqft|m2. cite web
url = http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2003/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2003&passListType=Person&uniqueId=YJP7&datatype=Person
title = Forbes World's Richest People 2003
date = 2003
publisher = Forbes
language = English ]

He attended Stanford University on a basketball scholarship, graduating with a bachelor's degree in geography (no longer offered) in 1960. He is well known for his generous support of the university. The alumni center, the Frances C. Arrillaga Building, is named in memory of his first wife, and various other athletic facilities carry his surname. In May 2006, Arrillaga gave $100 million to Stanford. cite web
url = http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/may31/arrillaga-053106.html
title = Arrillaga gives $100 million to Stanford in largest single gift ever from individual
date = May 26, 2006
publisher = Stanford Report
language = English ] His daughter Laura Arrillaga is married to Marc Andreessen, the successful entrepreneur who co-authored the Mosaic and Netscape web browsers, and who is co-founder of several web technology enterprises.

Arrillaga sold some of his real estate holdings in 2006.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/54/richlist07_John-Arrillaga_YJP7.html Forbes 400 - #317 John Arrillaga] 2007