George M. Marcus is the founder and has been the Chairman of Essex Property Corporation (the predecessor to Essex) and The Marcus & Millichap Company since their inception in 1971. The Marcus & Millichap Company is the parent company of a diversified group of real estate service, investment and development firms including SummerHill Homes, Pacific Urban Investors, and Meridian. He is also the Co-Chairman of Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (MMI), where he owns a controlling interest. MMI is a national brokerage firm listed on the NYSE that underwent its initial public offering in 2013. Mr. Marcus was one of the original founders of Greater Bay Bancorp, a publicly held financial institution, which was acquired by Wells Fargo & Company in 2007. Included among Mr. Marcus’ professional memberships are Real Estate Roundtable, Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and Urban Land Institute, as well as numerous other professional and community organizations. Mr. Marcus graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from San Francisco State University in 1965, was honored as Alumnus of the Millennium in 1999 and received his honorary doctorate in 2011. In June 2019, he received an honorary doctorate from the American College of Greece. Mr. Marcus is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management Program and Georgetown University’s Leadership Program.