R. Donahue Peebles

Born: March 2, 1960. Washington, D.C.

Company: The Peebles Corporation

Position: Chairman, CEO

Industry: Real Estate

Country: United States

R. Donahue Peebles is the America's largest black real estate developer with a $4 billion portfolio of luxury hotels and high-rise residential and Class A commercial properties and developments underway in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami Beach and the Florida Keys.

In addition to serving as CEO of his billion-dollar real estate development firm, Mr. Peebles is highly sought after nationwide as a speaker. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Black Enterprise, Ebony and Inc., because of his successful real estate projects. He has also been profiled on CNBC, CNN Financial Network, ABC News Network, and has been a guest on the nationally syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show" radio program.

Mr. Peebles was awarded an honorary doctorate from Johnson & Wales University. Raised in Washington, D.C., in a single-parent household he has a soft spot for at-risk inner-city children. Consequently, the multimillionaire real estate developer makes frequent forays into Miami's poorest neighborhoods to urge and inspire teens to pursue careers in business.

Mr. Peebles is a published author, his book, The Peebles Principles, Tales and Tactics from an Entrepreneur's Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in Business and Creating a Fortune from Scratch (Wiley), distills the lessons Peebles learned on the road to building his successful company and personal fortune.

He served as a U.S. House of Representatives page while in high school, sparking a lifelong interest in politics. Peebles has supported politicians on both sides of the aisle and has raised campaign funds for local, state and federal candidates.