Douglas Jemal was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, and is a businessman, a real estate developer, and landlord, best known as a founder of the Douglas Development company.
Have you ever wondered how rich Douglas Jemal is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Jemal’s net worth is as high as $150 million, an amount earned through his successful career as a businessman, which started in the 1960s.
Douglas Jemal Net Worth $150 Million
Douglas Jemal was one of six children of a discount retailer, Norman Jemal and grew up in a Syrian-Jewish family in Brooklyn. His family was well-situated, and Douglas dropped out of high school to start his business career, so he and his brother Lawrence founded a store in Washington D.C. called Bargaintown in the mid-‘60s. Soon after, they opened a new discount electronics store, and then decided to return to New York and include their brothers Stephen and Marvin in the business.
The four brothers founded Nobody Beats the Wiz, a discount electronics chain, but Douglas sold his share to the family in 1993, and in 1997 the company dropped into bankruptcy. Jemal took the opportunity to invest in Washington D.C. real estate, and that decision paid off as he owned over ten million square feet of space, including the area near the Verizon Center, the Shaw neighborhood, the Navy Yard area near Nationals Park on the Anacostia River, and Chinatown. He converted the land into active areas for housing, retail, premises including restaurants. Thanks to his smart investments and sense for business, Jemal’s net worth significantly increased, making him a multimillionaire.
However, Douglas charged high rents and had numerous quarrels with local tenants, which resulted in charges, lawsuits and a federal investigation. Jemal was acquitted on federal charges of tax evasion, bribery, and conspiracy, but he couldn’t escape from the charge of wire fraud, for which he was convicted in July 2006, and was ordered to pay $175,000 plus being sentenced to five years of probation. Most recently, Douglas bought the tallest building in Buffalo, New York State, the One Seneca Tower, and has a plan to make it into restaurant, office, hotel and retail site. At the moment, he serves as the advisor for the Downtown Developers’ Roundtable.
Regarding his personal life, Douglas Jemal is married, but his wife is kept under wraps, even though they have two sons and a daughter.
He is well-known philanthropist, and has donated a lot of money to such organizations as the Children’s Hospital, Shaw Main Street, Manna Inc., Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, Animal Rescue Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and The Studio Theatre Inc., among others.
