Robert Alan Faith (born 1963/1964) is an American businessman, and is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Greystar Real Estate Partners.

Early life

Faith grew up in Oklahoma, and earned a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, intending to pursue a career in the oil industry as his father had. While in college, Faith was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity, then located at 603 West Brooks in Norman. When a recession made petroleum engineer jobs less available upon graduation, Faith opted instead to get an MBA from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, graduating in 1986.

Career

Faith started his career at the Trammell Crow Company, a

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

firm where he eventually became a partner. In 1991, he co-founded Starwood Capital Group with Barry Sternlicht, a classmate from Harvard. The company focused on acquiring foreclosed multifamily properties in the aftermath of the

savings and loan crisis The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s (commonly dubbed the S&L crisis) was the failure of approximately a third of the savings and loan associations (S&Ls or thrifts) in the United States between 1986 and 1995. These thrifts were b ...

. In 1993, Faith founded Greystar in Houston, Texas. While CEO of Greystar, Faith served as Secretary of Commerce for the State of South Carolina from 2002 to 2006. During his tenure, Faith reorganized the department's 19-division structure into four departments. In 1996, he co-founded Homegate Hospitality, a developer of extended-stay hotels, with John Kratzer, a former colleague from Trammell Crow. The company was acquired the next year. Faith moved both his residence and Greystar’s headquarters to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1998. Under Faith's leadership, Greystar acquired Education Realty Trust in 2018 for $4.6 billion, making the company the second largest student housing provider in the United States. Other major acquisitions during Faith's tenure include the property management arm of Alliance Residential Co. in June 2020, Thackeray Partners in May 2021, and Fizzy Living in December 2021. Faith is also expanding the business beyond multifamily rental properties to sectors including life sciences, purpose-built single-family rentals, and industrial. , Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, with $45.1 billion of

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

Recognition and related activities

, Faith was a member of the

Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a global nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI aims to help its members and their partners build more equitable, sustainable, heal ...

and the National Multifamily Housing Council. In 2020, Faith was nominated to the real estate group of the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, a bipartisan panel convened by President Donald Trump during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2018, Faith appeared on the '' Observer'' list of the 59 most powerful people in residential real estate. In 2022, Faith ranked #32 on the ''Commercial Observer'' Power 100 list of commercial real estate's most powerful people. He ranked #10 in 2023 and #6 in 2024.

Personal life

Faith resides in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, with his family. He is married to interior designer Muffie Faith, and they have three children.

References

Living people 1960s births University of Oklahoma alumni Harvard Business School alumni {{US-business-bio-1960s-stub