As a kid growing up in Hannibal, Missouri, the agrarian Mississippi River town where Mark Twain was born, Bob DeWitt never in his wildest dreams thought he would dine with U.S. presidents, testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, or interview luminaries like former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and TV personality Charlie Rose on stage in front of thousands of his peers. But those are just a few of many highlights in a storied career that includes building Boston-based GID into the countryâs 26th largest apartment owner with more than $20 billion in assets and serving as chairman of the National Multifamily Housing Council.
Recognizing his potential early on, DeWittâs family encouraged him to become a doctor, the profession they considered the pinnacle of achievement. He ran with that until he worked as a hospital intern and realized he didnât enjoy being around so much sickness and sadness. âI realized that I preferred to be around healthy, active, ambitious, and accomplished people,â DeWitt says.
BOB DEWITT AT A GLANCE
Company: GID
Title: Vice Chair
Age: 65
Family: His wife, Alison , and three grown children
Favorite quote: âThe inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of benefits; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.â âWinston Churchill to Parliament in 1945
Best book read recently: âThe Splendid and the Vileâ by Erik Larson portrayed the indomitable spirit of Winston Churchill during World War II, his unique and substantial political prowess, and his ability to lead his nation by sheer will power through its most trying of times.
Favorite author: Malcolm Gladwell. I enjoy his unique perspective on so many subjects, like the fallibility of memory, the way good decisions get made, and how small ideas can explode into large social phenomenon.
Leadership philosophy: Properly define and communicate responsibility, authority, and accountability (RAA) to all team members. Hire the right people; lead by example; set a culture of mutual respect, honesty, integrity, and hard work; seek input and advice from team members; create an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation that fosters the development of solutions to the myriad problems that confront a business; and routinely publicly recognize the contributions of others.
Proudest accomplishment: Raising three accomplished, well-rounded, highly educated, grounded, curious, and genuinely nice and respectful children, all of whom enjoy each otherâs company and being with my wife and me. Zachary, Andrew, and Brooke all graduated from Deerfield Academy and Yale University, and Zach was a Baker Scholar at Harvard Business School.
While Hannibal was an idyllic spot in many ways, DeWitt was hard pressed to find such people in his hometown, where a Western Publishing Co. printing press and a deviled ham meat processing plant were the biggest employers and the most successful businessman owned the Ford dealership that sold about 10 cars a year. âAs it is in the hollowing out of the Midwest from western Pennsylvania to western Nebraska, Hannibal was a great place to grow up but not a great place to stay,â he says.
Encouraged by parents who valued education, DeWitt got a scholarship to Deerfield Academy, an elite Massachusetts prep school founded in 1797. The only other student from Missouri was the son of a U.S. senator, but DeWitt had no idea he didnât fit in until a classmate insisted on buying him new clothes before he took him to Thanksgiving dinner in Darien, Connecticut. âI didnât know I dressed differently,â DeWitt says. âThat wasnât my focus.â
Sartorial shortcomings aside, DeWitt thrived in the company of students from the East Coastâs most successful families. He went on to graduate cum laude from Middlebury College (where he met his wife of 38 years, Alison, also cum laude), get his MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, and land a job as vice president of acquisitions for Boston-based real estate investment banking firm Winthrop Financial Associates in 1982.
âA Man of Convictionâ
DeWitt joined GID as vice president of acquisitions in 1987, when it was a small regional firm holding primarily apartment buildings, and expanded its investment strategy to include apartments, office, retail, industrial, and condos. During his tenure as president and CEO, GIDâs assets under management grew twentyfold, and the company developed equity co-investment programs and secured relationships with significant capital partners, including CalPERS, the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; expanded into India and Brazil; and became one of the largest owners and managers of apartment communities in the U.S., with nearly 38,000 units and more than 1,000 employees.
In 2005, DeWitt and his team convinced GIDâs pension fund partner to sell an entire portfolio of apartment properties and recommended reinvesting the considerable profits in U.S. Treasuries just as easy credit was causing condo conversion mania and an extreme spike in single-family home sales. Though selling the portfolio meant relinquishing property- and asset-management fee income streams, DeWitt says, âit was the absolute appropriate exercise of our fiduciary duty to our partner and, in the end, has rewarded us as well.â When the 2008 crisis hit, GID and its partner were protected. They began rebuilding the portfolio in 2010; itâs now approaching $12 billion in gross asset value.
âBob is a man of conviction,â says CBRE executive managing director Peter Donovan, âwhich was never more apparent than when he stood firm in his view of the multifamily investment landscape in what proved to be an overly frothy market.â
Paul Mouchakkaa, who worked closely with DeWitt for 15 years as head of CalPERSâ $45 billion real assets program, notes that âWhen Bob took a position on an issue, there was no questioning its motive. He always had the clientâs point of view in mind. His fiduciary mindset was unquestionable, and he always would professionally yet directly express his views even if they were different than mine. He had a tremendously positive impact on the portfolio I had responsibility for.â
Former NMHC CEO Doug Bibby, who has known DeWitt for a good 20 years, says DeWittâs attention to detail and excellence in all aspects of performance and accountability are behind his success in running GID. He points to GIDâs 23-year run as the lead multifamily investor for CalPERS, the nationâs largest pension fundâfeared for its tough, thorough due diligence processâas an example of DeWittâs acumen.
Bibby is grateful to DeWitt for founding NMHCâs Research Foundation and $3 million capitalization, testifying about housing finance before Congress, helping push PAC contributions to more than $3 million (making NMHCâs PAC the third largest in real estate), and playing a pivotal rule in defeating statewide rent control in California.
âThe thing I found extraordinarily fascinating and fulfilling about being in a leadership role at NMHC was being able to represent our industry and educate our congressmen and women, senators, and their staffs as well as members of the executive branch and officials from the Federal Reserve and the Department of Housing and Urban Developmentâthose who are in charge of writing rules and regulations that control and influence so much of how we conduct our business,â DeWitt says.
âBob has been one of the stalwarts of the industry,â says Kenneth J. Valach, CEO of Trammell Crow Residential, who applauds DeWittâs âadroit political skills,â including his work to ensure Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae continue to finance the multifamily industry. âWithout Bobâs efforts, the industry would not enjoy the access to capital we have today.â
DeWitt stepped down as CEO earlier this year, turning over all operating responsibilities to president and now CEO Greg Bates, though heâll continue to provide perspective and advice as one of four members of GIDâs advisory board. âI have passed the leadership baton to the next generation of GID leaders who have inherited a company with a vibrant corporate culture, a strong and liquid balance sheet, a stellar track record of success, and an enviable reputation in the industry,â DeWitt says.
âBobâs skill set as CEO was both deep and broad,â Bates wrote to GID employees when DeWitt stepped down. âBut his legacy will reside in the simple truth that he made each of us better. Bobâs optimism, kindness, and genuine love for GID is a unique gift that helped define the corporate culture we so earnestly strive to maintain.â