Cover Story
Giving back
How Edward P. Roski Jr. got Majestic Realty Co.’s employees involved in the community to help his company grow
By Mike Cottrill
Smart Business Los Angeles | March 2008
Page 1 of 4
Edward P. Roski Jr. wasn’t born in Southern California, but
he’d be quick to tell you that he and his family made it their
home when he was just 3 years old.
And with the exception of a stint in the Marines that earned
him two purple hearts, he’s lived there ever since. In that
time, he’s become a billionaire and seen Majestic Realty Co.,
the private real estate company his father started in 1948,
continue to grow, as it now owns, manages and leases more
than 70 million square feet of property.
Working on notable projects, like the renowned STAPLES
Center, the company’s continued success has expanded to
other markets but has always started at home.
So, as Majestic continues to grow by nearly 4 million
square feet of property managed per year, it was logical that
Roski, who also is a minority owner of the NBA’s Los
Angeles Lakers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, would
center his philanthropic endeavors on L.A. Of course,
Roski’s challenges go well beyond just thinking about how
to help the community.
“When you talk about the challenges in business, I think
having a company that has continued to grow over the
years and having employees that want to work with the
company and that really feel they’re being satisfied is the
big one,” says Roski, Majestic’s chairman and CEO. “I want
it so that it’s not just a job, they are looking forward to coming to work, even with the traffic in L.A., and want to put
forth a real effort.”
So as Roski redefined what his company could do to help,
he analyzed how a charitable contribution could do more
than just push good ideas back into his hometown. He realized that by building up the community he was in, he would
strengthen his company’s core. In that process, he created
avenues to ask the 650-plus employees within Majestic’s
businesses how they wanted to help out and created charity programs that gave employees a chance to help in different and engaging ways, giving them a new reason to battle
that rush-hour traffic every day. As a result, his company’s
growth has continued while the average tenure for top
managers in the company has pushed beyond 20 years.
