Sam Nazarian

Sam Nazarian is an Iranian American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of SBE Entertainment Group.

Sam Nazarian
CitizenshipAmerican]
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
OccupationSBE Entertainment Group
Spouse(s)Emina Cunmulaj
Parent(s)Younes Nazarian
RelativesIzak Parviz Nazarian
WebsiteSBE.com

Biography

Early life

Nazarian was born to a Persian Jewish family in Tehran in 1975.[1] The Nazarian family immigrated to the United States following the Iranian Revolution.[2] He is the son of Younes Nazarian who made a fortune along with his brother Izak Parviz Nazarian as an early investor in Qualcomm.[2] He was raised in Beverly Hills, California where he attended Beverly Hills High School and later studied at the University of Southern California.[1]

Career

Telecommunications

His first entrepreneurial venture was in 1998, when he invested a little bit of money into Platinum Wireless, a telecommunications business specializing in the distribution of Nextel software. Within one year of its founding, Platinum Wireless was the number one Nextel distributor in Southern California. He then entered the world of real estate by diversifying his family's assets into real estate holdings, beginning with the establishment of 3Wall Development in 1999. Under Sam's guidance 3Wall became one of Southern California's largest owners of multi-family housing.

Hospitality

SBE owns several Los Angeles nightclubs and lounges: Nightingale Plaza, Hyde Sunset, and Hyde Staples Center. As clubs tend to wane in popularity quickly, Nazarian typically only keeps his clubs open for eight months to a year, closes them for extensive renovations, and then reopens them (often under a new name, preferably short) to keep the brand fresh.[3] SBE generally owns each of its venues outright giving it the flexibility to quickly adjust to the vagaries of the market.[3] These venues continue to see a high level of popularity and celebrity patronage, as well as being frequently visited by the characters of HBO's Entourage. Nazarian made an appearance as himself greeting the main characters of the show in the episode "No Cannes Do". Nazarian's SBE brand has also been featured on episodes of The Hills. Nazarian owns the Hyde Lounge at Staples Center in Los Angeles[4] and he also owns the Hyde at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami.[5] In 2014, SBE agreed to lease the top two floors of 5900 Wilshire, a skyscraper in Los Angeles, CA.[6]

Restaurants

He has secured partnerships with Philippe Starck and chefs Katsuya Uechi, José Andrés and Michael Mina. His partnership with Katsuya and Starck resulted in the restaurant Katsuya, with locations in Brentwood, Hollywood, Glendale, downtown Los Angeles and downtown San Diego. XIV, in partnership with Chef Michael Mina, opened on the Sunset Strip in October 2008.[7] Nazarian opened The Bazaar with José Andrés, which is integrated into SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, in 2008.[8] SBE is also invested in hamburger chain Umami Burger.[9]

Hotels

SBE owns and operates several hotels including SLS Brickell, SLS Lux,[10] Redbury South Beach[11] and Redbury New York.[12]

Producer

Nazarian has served as executive producer for the films Waiting..., Down in the Valley, Five Fingers, The Last Time, Pride, Mr. Brooks and College.

Honors

In 2006, Nazarian was honored as the youngest executive to be named one of the "Top 100 Most Powerful People in Southern California" by West,[13] the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and was named among "The Influentials".[14] Since 2008, Nazarian has served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Institute of Architecture.[15] The Beverly Hills High School basketball court was renamed "Sam Nazarian Court" after Nazarian, a 1993 Beverly Hills High School graduate, made a $200,000 donation to the Beverly Hills Athletic Alumni Association.[16] In July 2009, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Nazarian to the Board of Airport Commissioners of Los Angeles World Airports. In 2014, Nazarian was named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 list.[17]

Personal life

He is married to Albanian American model, Emina Cunmulaj;[18] they have two daughters.

References
  1. Bagley, Christopher (Aug 2005). "Nazarian: Sam I Am - Young tycoon Sam Nazarian has big dreams for himself, L.A. and the world". W Magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  2. Bloomberg: "Sam Nazarian Wants You to Sleep with Him" By Karl Taro Greenfeld December 01, 2011
  3. Verini, James (July 29, 2006). "SMALL HOURS; Enjoy his clubs while you can; Sam Nazarian keeps his many places trendy by constantly reinventing them". Los Angeles Times. p. E1.
  4. LeTellier, Alexandra; Shatkin, Elina (2009-12-11). "Hyde Lounge at Staples Center". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  5. "Hyde nightclub opening at American Airlines Arena". Miami.com. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  6. Vincent, Roger (2014-01-08). "Nightclub owner SBE to replace Variety at 5900 Wilshire". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  7. "SBE Corporate".
  8. "The Bazaar at SLS Beverly Hills, Rendered".
  9. Gelt, Jessica (August 11, 2011). "Umami Burger's brand sizzles with SBE backing". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013.
  10. "Related's Carlos Rosso talks SLS Lux top off, 444 Brickell and more: PHOTOS". The Real Deal Miami. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  11. "SBE to debut The Redbury South Beach in time for Art Basel". Miami Herald. 22 November 2013.
  12. Kester, Jennifer. "How Sam Nazarian Is Building SBE's Luxury Lifestyle Empire". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  13. "WEST, The Power Issue". August 13, 2006. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. "The 122 Most Influential People in LA". Los Angeles Magazine. December 2009.
  15. jwilliams (2008-02-20). "Local Dudes Make Good: Caruso to USC, Nazarian to SCI-Arc". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  16. Ceasar, Stephen (2015-02-03). "Along with his name on Beverly Hills campuses, donor buys controversy". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  17. "40 Under 40". Fortune. October 2014.
  18. New York Daily News: "King of clubs Sam Nazarian throws an ace party for Mexico wedding to model Emina Cunmulaj" BY Marianne Garvey June 23, 2015
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