Net Worth:

$1 billion +30%

Last Year:

$770 million

Age:

48

Residence:

Los Angeles

Source of Wealth:

Retail development

The Money:

Lowy, along with his father and two brothers own a joint stake in 166 million shares of Westfield Group stock valued at $3 billion. The Australian company has seen its stock price rise 24 percent over the past 12 months while the Australian dollar has increased 8 percent compared to the U.S. dollar. Additional holdings include a stake in the $500 million private nest egg that the family pulled out of the company in 1998.

Buzz:

Lowy moved to the United States in 1990 to serve as managing director of U.S. operations for Westfield. The U.S. portfolio is up to 59 shopping centers valued at $18.7 billion. The company’s entire portfolio was valued at $48 billion as of Jan. 1, up 26 percent from the previous year. The company spent $460 million expanding the Westfield San Francisco Centre and is almost done with a $150 million upgrade to Westfield Century City both are marquee properties. But Lowy’s biggest move this past year came in the non-profit world where he engineered the merger of two major Jewish organizations: the University of Judaism in Bel Air and the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley. Lowy, who served as chairman at the Bel Air university will now serve as chairman of the combined institution which has taken the name American Jewish University. The merger was seen as a well executed deal benefiting a university that is looking to grow while helping an institute in need of financial assistance similar to transactions seen in the corporate world. The 2,900-acre Simi Valley property is the single largest Jewish-owned property outside of Israel.