Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959)^[2] is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.^[3] He is the founder and chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company.^[4][5] He has been president of the Los Angeles Police Commission and a member of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the University of Southern California.

Caruso was born in Los Angeles. His father, Henry Caruso, was the founder of Dollar Rent-A-Car and owner of many car dealerships in the Los Angeles area. Henry was indicted for fraud, forgery, and conspiracy in 1957 and pled guilty.^[6] He was allowed to change his plea back to not guilty after probation, and charges were dismissed.^[6] His mother Gloria, a billboard model in her youth, was a homemaker and philanthropist.^[7] Rick received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southern California in 1980, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and a law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983 as a Margaret Martin Block Scholar.^[8][9][10] In 1995, he was recognized as the Alumnus of the Year by Pepperdine School of Law.^[11]

Caruso was a real-estate lawyer in the corporate finance department at Finley Kumble,^[12] but in 1990, he quit law to develop retail and residential properties full-time.^[13][14]

In 1987, he founded Caruso, a company that develops, owns and manages properties such as The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles, the Americana at Brand in Glendale, the Commons at Calabasas, the Promenade at Westlake, 8500 Burton Way and the Waterside Marina Del Rey.^[4][12][15]

He has lectured on real estate issues at the Kennedy School of Public Administration at Harvard University,^[16] the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy^[17] and the Milken Institute Global Conference.^[18] Caruso participates annually as a guest panelist for the International Council of Shopping Centers.^[19]

In 1985, at the age of 26, Caruso was named by Mayor Tom Bradley to serve as a commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power,^[20] becoming the youngest commissioner in the history of the city.^[21][22]

In August 2001, Caruso was appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners^[23] and was elected its president.^[21] In this role, he led the selection process that resulted in the hiring of former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton as the Los Angeles Chief of Police. During Caruso's tenure as president of the Police Commission, the crime rate in Los Angeles dropped 37.3% from 2002 to 2006.^[23]

In 2008, Caruso was elected to serve as a member of the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission,^[22][24] which oversees the operations of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and nearby Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. During his tenure on the commission, Caruso advocated for its reform, including the resignation of its general manager,^[25][26] and the replacement of the commission itself with a new governing body.^[27] He advocated a ban on rave parties at the two venues.^[28][29]

He is on the Pepperdine School of Law Board of Advisors^[30] and on the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.^[31]

Caruso founded the Caruso Family Foundation, a foundation that is dedicated to supporting organizations that improve the lives of children in need of healthcare and education.^[32][33]

In 2013, the Foundation pledged $5 million to Operation Progress, a Watts-based non-profit founded by Los Angeles Police Department officers, which will guide more than 200 students from elementary school through college graduation. The pledge creates a new "ecosystem of opportunity" led by Operation Progress in collaboration with three area Catholic schools, South Central Scholars, Helping Young People Excel, and STRIVE.^[34]

Caruso serves on the board of Para Los Niños, a nonprofit family and child welfare agency in South Los Angeles.^[35] The organization dedicated its Skid Row facility as the Tina and Rick Caruso Child Development Center.^[36]

The Caruso Catholic Center and Our Savior Parish Church on the USC campus was endowed by and named after Caruso following his contribution of $9 million.^[37][38]

His daughter, Gianna "Gigi", was born with hearing loss and was treated at USC's Keck School of Medicine. In 2015, Caruso and his wife Tina donated a further $25 million to USC, to endow and name the USC Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.^[39][40] He sits on the board of the National Institute of Transplantation^[41] and is on the Board of St. John's Health Center^[42] and The California Medical Center Foundation.^[18]

In 1995, Caruso was named Alumnus of the Year by Pepperdine School of Law.^[13]

Caruso was named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as "Developer of the Year" and its 2012 Ernst & Young LLP Master Entrepreneur of the Year.^[11][33][32]

In 2015, Caruso funded a voter initiative to bypass local planning laws and the California Environmental Quality Act in order to build an outdoor mall in Carlsbad, CA.^[43] That initiative passed but a subsequent referendum overturned it and required a public vote - Measure A. The measure failed and the mall construction was blocked.^[44] All together, Caruso spent $12 million in less than a year on getting the project approved.^[44] Including television ads, mailers, and consulting services.^[44]

In 2016, the L.A. Times reported that Caruso, his affiliates and family, had given more than $476,000 to L.A. city officials over the past five years; during which time Los Angeles City Hall approved numerous building projects.^[45]

He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the University of Southern California.^[46][47] During his tenure as chairman of the Board of Trustees, Marshall School of Business Dean James G. Ellis was removed and a settlement was reached in the sexual abuse scandal involving campus gynecologist George Tyndall.^[15] Olivia Jade Giannulli, one of the USC students involved in the federal indictments regarding USC admissions, was aboard Caruso's $100 million yacht, Invictus,^[48] in the Bahamas at the time the scandal broke. Giannulli is daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and a friend of Caruso's daughter, Gianna.^{[40][49][50][51]} Gianna Caruso, like her other siblings, was accepted to USC during a period in which her father donated millions of dollars to the university.^[52]

He is married to Tina Caruso; the couple have four children, Alex, Gregory, Justin, and Gianna.^[2] They live in Brentwood, California.^[1] All four of his children have attended the University of Southern California.^[52] Caruso has donated millions of dollars to the school.^[52] Caruso, through a trust, paid for a $4.4 million mansion in Pacific Palisades for his son Justin.^[53]