DAVID NAZARIAN
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND TRUSTEE
David Nazarian is the Chief Financial Officer of the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation and the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Nimes Real Estate and Nimes Capital. His career as a visionary investor and business builder began with his active involvement in his family’s early identification of the potential for wireless communications technology which ultimately became part of Qualcomm, Inc., one of the most successful corporations in the history of the telecommunications industry.
Building on the success of his family’s holdings, Mr. Nazarian demonstrated his acumen and investment vision across sectors and economic cycles. He orchestrated the roll‑up of aerospace equipment manufacturers during a challenging period in that industry; acquired substantial real estate portfolios from the Resolution Trust Corporation in the early 1990s; and made strategic investments in the hotel sector following the early‑2000s downturn, divesting many positions ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.
He also launched three early‑stage venture funds focused on wireless communications and broadband infrastructure, and he has backed a number of innovative clean‑technology companies.
Mr. Nazarian was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2018 and is deeply engaged in the Los Angeles community. He serves as a Board Member of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and a Founding Board Member of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. He has previously served as Chair of the Investment Committee and Board Director of the UCLA Foundation, as well as on the Cedars‑Sinai Medical Center Board of Directors Investment Committee and Board of Governors and service on the USC Marshall School of Business Board of Leaders.
In 2014, Mr. Nazarian made a transformative $10 million gift to California State University, Northridge (CSUN)—his alma mater—supporting the College of Business and Economics, which was subsequently renamed in his honor. This contribution was part of a $25 million fundraising initiative he helped lead.
Mr. Nazarian earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from CSUN and received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the university in 2024. He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California.