Don Peebles built an $8 billion real estate empire one public-private deal at a time
Billionaires Africa | 12.06.2026 22:52
Don Peebles has a way of explaining his first real estate deal that makes it sound almost accidental. His mother was a real estate broker in Washington D.C. He grew up watching her work. When he was 19, she helped him land a job as a real estate appraiser with the District government. By 23, he had figured out that the city had been miscalculating its own property tax assessments for years, and that the businesses sitting on those properties had no idea. He started a tax appeal company. The clients came. The money followed. And when enough of it had accumulated, he used it to buy land. He has not stopped buying since.
