Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959) is an American businessman. A billionaire, he is the founder and former chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company. He is the chair of the board of trustees at the University of Southern California and was previously the president of the Los Angeles Police Commission and a member of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. Caruso ran as a Democrat in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, losing to fellow Democrat Karen Bass. He was previously registered as non-partisan, and before that he was a Republican. Early life and education Caruso, an Italian American, was born in Los Angeles. His father, Henry Caruso, was the founder of Dollar Rent-A-Car and owner of many car dealerships in the Los Angeles area. His mother Gloria was a billboard model in her youth. Caruso received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California in 1980 (where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Trojan Knights); and a J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983 as a Margaret Martin Brock Scholar. Career Real estate development Caruso was a real-estate lawyer in the corporate finance department at Finley Kumble. In 1987, he founded Caruso, a company that develops, owns and manages properties. He initially purchased parking lots that his father agreed to lease for Dollar Rent-A-Car which he sold when the property rose in value. In 1990, he quit law to develop his retail and residential properties full-time. His projects include The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles, the Americana at Brand in Glendale, the Commons at Calabasas, the Promenade at Westlake, The Lakes at Thousands Oaks (leased from the City of Thousand Oaks), Waterside Marina del Rey, Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades and the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Santa Barbara. In 2015, Caruso funded a voter initiative to bypass local planning laws and the California Environmental Quality Act in order to build an outdoor mall in Carlsbad, California. That initiative passed but a subsequent referendum overturned it and required a public vote – Measure A. The measure failed and the mall construction was blocked. All together, Caruso spent $12 million in less than a year on getting the project approved. This spending included television ads, mailers, and consulting services. In 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that Caruso, his affiliates and family,