Kennedy Wilson

In 1977, a trio of auctioneers—Donald F. Kennedy, John Wilson, and William Stevenson—founded Kennedy-Wilson in Santa Monica, California, starting as a real estate auction service. The early business focused on orchestrating property sales, but a pivotal change came in 1988 when William J. McMorrow and an investor group acquired the company. With McMorrow at the helm as Chairman and CEO, the firm began its transformation from a local auction house to a global real estate investment player. The company's journey through the public markets has had its twists. Kennedy Wilson first went public on the Nasdaq in 1992. This move fueled its expansion and ability to take on more significant real estate ventures. However, in 2004, management decided to take the company private again. This was a strategic retreat, allowing for a focused restructuring of its operations. The public markets called again, and in 2009, Kennedy Wilson Holdings, Inc. launched its Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange, signaling a new era of growth. A significant chapter in the company's story was its European expansion. In 2011, Kennedy Wilson became the lead investor in the recapitalization of the Bank of Ireland, which established a major foothold in the European market. This led to the IPO of Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc on the London Stock Exchange in 2014. By 2017, the two public entities merged, consolidating Kennedy Wilson's global assets and operations under one umbrella.