Douglas W. Shorenstein

Douglas W. Shorenstein (born 1955) is a San Francisco-based real estate developer and the current chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Early life and education

Shorenstein was one of three children born to real estate developer Walter Shorenstein^[1] and Phyllis Finley.^[2] His father was Jewish and his mother converted to Judaism.^[3] He has two sisters: Broadway producer Carole Shorenstein Hays and CBS news producer and Washington Post journalist Joan Shorenstein (who died of cancer in 1985). He graduated with a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and with a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.^[4]

Career

In 1980, he moved to New York City where he worked for three years in the real estate department of the law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP.^[4] In 1983, he moved back to San Francisco and joined his father's real estate development company, Shorenstein Properties LLC.^[4] In 1995, he was appointed chairman and CEO.^[5][6] Under his tutelage, he transitioned the company from a traditional local based real estate developer to a national real estate investment company.^[4] In 1991, Shorenstein Properties LLC started its first closed-end fund tasked with making real estate investments nationally and requiring a minimum $25 million investment and a 20-year commitment.^[4] The fund had six partners, one of which was Shorenstein, and totaled $150 million.^[7] After the death of his father, he bought out his sister's interest and shifted the company to a pure fund platform with each fund typically being composed of 10-15% of his own money.^[4] As of 2013, Shorenstein properties, via ten separate investment funds, owns and manages 23.8 million square feet of office properties valued at $7 billion.^[8]

In 2007, he was appointed to the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; in 2010, he was elevated to deputy chairman; and in 2011, he was appointed chairman.^[9]

Philanthropy and boardships

Shorenstein serves on the board the Environmental Defense Fund; the executive council of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center; the executive committee of the The Real Estate Roundtable; and Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (named in honor of his late sister).^[9] In 2011, Shorenstein was inducted into the Bay Area Council’s Bay Area Business Hall of Fame which "recognizes the extraordinary achievements of individuals who have advanced San Francisco Bay Area-based businesses to positions of national and international prominence."^[5]

Personal life

Shorenstein is married to Lydia Preisler^[10] and has a son, Brandon, and two daughters, Sandra and Danielle.^[11] He practices yoga and is a collector of Southeast Asian and Nepalese art with an emphasis on Khmer and Cambodian pieces.^[7] They are members of the Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.^[12]

References