Rick Caruso

In October of 2019, Caruso donated $50 million to Pepperdine School of Law, resulting in a name change to the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. This gift will go to historically underrepresented students, as well as to law students pursuing public interest law.

In 2016, the L.A. Times reported that Caruso, his affiliates and family, had given more than $476,000 to L.A. city officials over the past five years; during this time Los Angeles City Hall approved numerous building projects.

His daughter, Gianna "Gigi", was born with hearing loss and was treated at USC's Keck School of Medicine. In 2015, Caruso and his wife Tina donated a further $25 million to USC, to endow and name the USC Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. He sits on the board of the National Institute of Transplantation and is on the Board of St. John's Health Center and The California Medical Center Foundation.

In 2015, Caruso funded a voter initiative to bypass local planning laws and the California Environmental Quality Act in order to build an outdoor mall in Carlsbad, CA. That initiative passed but a subsequent referendum overturned it and required a public vote – Measure A. The measure failed and the mall construction was blocked. All together, Caruso spent $12 million in less than a year on getting the project approved. This spending included television ads, mailers, and consulting services.

In 2013, the Foundation pledged $5 million to Operation Progress, a Watts-based non-profit founded by Los Angeles Police Department officers, which will guide more than 200 students from elementary school through college graduation. The pledge creates a new "ecosystem of opportunity" led by Operation Progress in collaboration with three area Catholic schools, South Central Scholars, Helping Young People Excel, and STRIVE.

Caruso was named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as "Developer of the Year" and its 2012 Ernst & Young LLP Master Entrepreneur of the Year.

Caruso has floated the idea of a run for mayor in multiple campaign cycles. Though he considered a 2009 run, he ultimately decided against it before the election. In 2020, Caruso expressed interest in running in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election. This consideration was made public during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Caruso was chosen to assist the White House in facilitating America's future recovery from the disease. He gave multiple interviews during this time on prioritizing small businesses during the recovery.

In 2008, Caruso was elected to serve as a member of the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which oversees the operations of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and nearby Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. During his tenure on the commission, Caruso advocated for its reform, including the resignation of its general manager, and the replacement of the commission itself with a new governing body. He advocated a ban on rave parties at the two venues.

In August 2001, Caruso was appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and was elected its president. In this role, he led the selection process that resulted in the hiring of former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton as the Los Angeles Chief of Police. During Caruso's tenure as president of the Police Commission, the crime rate in Los Angeles dropped 37.3% from 2002 to 2006.

In 1995, Caruso was named Alumnus of the Year by Pepperdine School of Law. Caruso and his wife, Tina, established the Caruso Loan Forgiveness Fund which covers the law school loan payments for ten years for low-income and other underserved students.

Caruso was a real-estate lawyer in the corporate finance department at Finley Kumble, but in 1990, he quit law to develop retail and residential properties full-time.

In 1987, he founded Caruso, a company that develops, owns and manages properties such as The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles, the Americana at Brand in Glendale, the Commons at Calabasas, the Promenade at Westlake, The Lakes at Thousands Oaks (co-owned by the City of Thousand Oaks), 8500 Burton Way, Waterside Marina Del Rey, Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades, and the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Santa Barbara.

In 1985, at the age of 26, Caruso was named by Mayor Tom Bradley to serve as a commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, becoming the youngest commissioner in the history of the city.

Caruso was born in Los Angeles. His father, Henry Caruso, was the founder of Dollar Rent-A-Car and owner of many car dealerships in the Los Angeles area. His mother Gloria, a billboard model in her youth, was a homemaker and philanthropist. Rick received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southern California in 1980, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the Trojan Knights and a J.D. degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983 as a Margaret Martin Block Scholar. In 1995, he was recognized as the Alumnus of the Year by Pepperdine School of Law.

Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959) is an American billionaire businessman, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company. He has been president of the Los Angeles Police Commission and a member of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. He is the chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Southern California.