Donald Leroy Bren (born May 11, 1932) is an American businessman. He is chairman and owner of the Irvine Company, a US real estate development corporation. With a net worth of $16.2 billion, he ranks number 112 on the 2022 Forbes Billionaires List. Early life Bren is the son of Marion Newbert and Milton Bren. His father Milton was a naval officer, talent agent, and successful movie producer while his mother Marion was a prominent civic leader. His father was Jewish, and his mother was of partial Irish descent. His parents divorced in 1948. Bren's father remarried in 1948 to Academy Award-winning actress Claire Trevor. His mother remarried in 1953 to steel business man Earle M. Jorgensen. Bren graduated from the University of Washington where he received a bachelor's degree in business administration and economics. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi. fraternity. He tried out for the 1956 Olympic ski team but did not qualify following an injury. After college, he served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Career Bren built his first house in Newport Beach, Orange County, California, with a $10,000 loan in 1958. He began his business career in 1958 when he founded the Bren Company, which built homes in the county. In 1963, he and two others started the Mission Viejo Company (MVC) and purchased 10,000 acres to plan and develop the city of Mission Viejo, California. Bren was President of MVC from 1963 to 1967. International Paper bought the Bren Co. for $34 million in 1970, then sold it back to Bren for $22 million in 1972 following the recession. Bren took the proceeds and in 1977 joined a group of investors to purchase the 146-year-old Irvine Company. Bren was the largest shareholder of the resulting consortium, owning 34.3% of the company and received the title of Vice-chair of the board. By 1983, he was the majority owner of the firm and was elected chairman of the board. By 1996, he had bought out all outstanding shares to become the sole owner. By 2005, OC Weekly wrote that Bren "wields more power than Howard Hughes ever did, probably as much as any man in America over a concentrated region—determining not only how people live and shop but who governs them." In 2006 the Los Angeles Times wrote "[s]imply put, Orange County looks like Orange County...because of the influence of [Donald