Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 13, 2003
BRUCE KARATZ is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KB Home.
He has led KB Home during a period of immense growth, delivering
25,565 homes in fiscal 2002 compared to less than 4,000 homes
delivered annually before he became CEO in 1986. KB Home is one
of the largest homebuilders in the US and France with 2002
revenues exceeding $5 billion. Under Mr. Karatz's leadership, KB
Home's mission has been to create highly personalized homes for
families at prices they can afford, with an emphasis on first-
time and first move-up homebuyers. During his tenure with the
company, over 350,000 families have achieved the American Dream
in a KB Home. In 1996, Mr. Karatz radically changed KB Home's
building process by developing a new business model that provides
high earnings visibility as well as the ability to sustain growth
regardless of the economic cycle. Known as KBnxt, this new model
involved pre-selling homes to customers, instead of the
traditional model of building first and selling later. By
reversing the process, KB Home has returned the power of choice
to homebuyers, providing more than 5,000 custom options at its KB
Home Studios that buyers select before the company ever breaks
ground on a new home. In 2000, he led KB Home in an initiative to
revitalize urban areas through the creation of American
CityVista, a partnership with former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros
to develop residential communities in the nation's major
metropolitan areas. That year Mr. Karatz was also named Builder
of the Year by the Southern California Builders Association. Mr.
Karatz joined KB Home as an in-house Attorney in 1972 and quickly
ascended into an operations role. He served as President of the
company's French operations from 1976 to 1980, establishing KB
Home's leading market position in that country and becoming the
first American to be appointed Director of France's National
Federation of Builders and Developers. In 1986 he was made
President and Chief Executive Officer of KB Home. Mr. Karatz was
inducted into the California Building Industry Hall of Fame in
1992, and added the title of Chairman of the Board of the company
the following year. A graduate of The Blake School in Minneapolis
and Boston University, Mr. Karatz earned his Law degree from the
University of Southern California. Profile
and a picture of things as they are now?
Mr. Karatz: KB Home is one of the largest homebuilders in the
United States and France.
