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Ken DeLeon (born July 13, 1972) is a Silicon Valley realtor, innovator, public speaker, philanthropist, and former attorney. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and now resides in Palo Alto, California.
DeLeon was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on July 13, 1972. DeLeon was 15 when his sister and only sibling — Jane, who helped raise him in Boca Raton, Florida — committed suicide in 1987.
DeLeon earned a degree in mathematics and economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall). After law school, DeLeon practiced law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a firm in Palo Alto catering to technology, life sciences, and other types of companies worldwide. He left the practice of law to work in real estate, and became an agent at Keller Williams Realty at its Palo Alto office. In June 2012, REAL Trends, Inc. and the Wall Street Journal announced that Ken DeLeon was the nation's #1 real estate agent out of over 1.2 million agents, [1] and the only Silicon Valley agent to ever be ranked the nation's top agent. Within 3 years, in June 2015, REAL Trends, Inc. and the Wall Street Journal announced that "The DeLeon Team," headed by DeLeon, was the nation's #1 real estate team. [2]
San Jose Mercury News described him as "Silicon Valley's Real Estate Rockstar." [3] Forbes referred to DeLeon as the "Top Silicon Valley Sales Agent." [4]
The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Los Altos and Mountain View, in Santa Clara County, south of Palo Alto and north of Sunnyvale. Most of the Peninsula is occupied by San Mateo County, between San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, and including the cities and towns of Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, El Granada, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, La Honda, Loma Mar, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Mountain View, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Pescadero, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco, West Menlo Park and Woodside.
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley. The term "Silicon Valley" refers to the area in which high-tech business has proliferated in Northern California, and it also serves as a general metonym for California's high-tech business sector.
Sand Hill Road, often shortened to just "Sand Hill" or "SHR", is an arterial road in western Silicon Valley, California, running through Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Woodside, notable for its concentration of venture capital firms. The road has become a metonym for that industry; nearly every top Silicon Valley company has been the beneficiary of early funding from firms on Sand Hill Road.
Palo Alto is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. As of December 2023, it had over 1.5 million members, making it the largest trade association in the United States including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. The organization holds a U.S. trademark over the term "Realtor". NAR also functions as a self-regulatory organization for real estate brokerage. The organization is headquartered in Chicago.
Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. was an American businessman. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB).
John Arrillaga was an American billionaire real estate developer and philanthropist who was one of the largest landowners in Silicon Valley. He was also a college basketball player when he attended Stanford University.
Castilleja School is an independent school for girls in grades six through twelve, located in Palo Alto, California. Castilleja is the only non-sectarian all-girls middle and high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. The faculty consists of approximately 70 full-time and part-time women and men. Castilleja is a member of the California Association of Independent Schools and the National Coalition of Girls' Schools.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is an American multinational law firm specializing in business, securities, venture capital, and intellectual property law. It is generally one of the top-grossing law firms in the world. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the firm's clients are primarily technology companies, life science firms, emerging industries, venture capital firms, private equity establishments, and investment banks.
HomeServices of America is the United States' largest residential real estate services company, based on closed transactions. The company provides real estate brokerage services, mortgage loan origination, franchising, title insurance/escrow and closing services, home warranties, property insurance, casualty insurance, and relocation services.
Santa Clara County, California, is one of California's original counties, with prior habitation dating from prehistory to the Alta California period.
Christie's International Real Estate is an international network of independently owned luxury real estate firms with more than 400 offices and approximately 10,000 real estate agents in nearly 50 countries and territories around the world. The brand is separately owned but strategically partnered with Christie’s, the fine art auction house.
Issuu, Inc. is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. The company's software converts PDFs into customizable digital publications that can be shared via links or embedded into websites.
Vanessa Grout is an American real estate entrepreneur, investor and journalist. She was CEO of South Florida real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman during which time she restructured and expanded the company throughout South Florida. She is currently CEO of OKO Real Estate, an affiliate of International property development company OKO Group, founded by Vladislav Doronin developer and CEO of Aman Resorts, and recently acquired a 6.7-acre site in downtown Fort Lauderdale. She is also the Head of Global Residences & Club for Aman Resorts. Grout is a licensed attorney and real estate broker and a regular contributor to Forbes on the topics of real estate and business.
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is an American educator and author.
Gregory Dean Hague is an American businessman, lawyer, real-estate consultant, and entrepreneur based in Arizona.
AltSchool is a San Francisco-based education and technology company founded with one school in 2013, later expanded to additional schools in 2014. As of June, 2019 AltSchool ceased operating schools directly and rebranded as Altitude Learning, a software company.
Concierge Auctions is a residential real estate company based in New York and Texas. It auctions properties to the highest bidder.
The Pacific Art League (PAL), formally known as the Palo Alto Art Club was founded in 1921 in Palo Alto, California and is a membership-run nonprofit arts organization, school, and gallery. The group is located in a historic building at 668 Ramona Street in downtown Palo Alto.