Billy was born in August of 1972 and grew up in Los Angeles, California where he resides today. Billy has served as the President of Forward Progress Management, Inc. since its inception in 1995 and as the President of its successor company Forward Progress Management Real Estate, Inc. since its inception in 2007, and as Principal of The Icon Company, LLC in 2008.
Billy is no stranger to hard work. He had his first job at the age of 14 when he was an assistant cook at the famous Sports club/LA. He cooked throughout his years of junior high and high school, and upon graduation from Palisades High School where he served as two-term Student Body President, he moved to France where he spent two years as an apprentice chef and “stagier”. During his two years working in one and two star Michelin restaurants, he often worked 18-hour days, 6 days a week, for $140/month.
Because he grew up in a household where his parents owned income property, the real estate business comes naturally to him. He learned how to manage tenants and properties by watching his parents manage theirs since he was a boy. He purchased his first property in 1995 when he was just 23 and later sold it in 2002 for a price that more than quadrupled his investment. Although having never attended a day of college in his life, Billy possesses knowledge of business that simply isn’t taught anywhere.
In 2003 he syndicated his first real estate investment fund, Forward Progress Management Real Estate Fund, I, LLC and within a year orchestrated the acquisition of 3 multifamily properties. Billy went on to syndicate 3 additional apartment building funds under the FPM umbrella. The 4 real estate funds purchased 20 apartment buildings throughout Los Angeles.
Billy, through The Icon Company, LLC is co-manager of The Icon Plaza at USC, LLC, The Icon at SLO, LLC, The Icon at UCSB, LLC, and The Icon Gardens at UCSB, LLC all of which are in various stages of development to become mixed use student housing and retail projects.
Billy is very philanthropic and gives both his time and money to a wide range of charitable organizations. In addition to being a lightning rod for raising money for several non-profits, he is an active Jewish Big Brother and has served on the organizing committee for 18 Pockets of Joy Golf Classic benefitting Camp Max Straus. He enjoys travel, especially to his favorite
