Meet The New Billionaire Behind The 76er's Center City Project

As the public face of a huge development that’s not popular with everyone, the hometown property mogul David Adelman has gone all-in on getting a new home for the NBA’s 76ers — and gotten hammered for it.

David Adelman grew up in a Main Line suburb and became CEO of Campus Apartments at age 25, expanding it from a Philadelphia landlord to the owner of $2 billion of properties at 80 schools in 23 states. A great story, but what could be less buzzy than student housing? He was no tech wizard with a viral new platform, nor did he provide the tabloids with any lurid scandals to feast on. In 2007, he helped create what’s now called FS Investments; today it manages $35 billion. And he founded the Darco Capital family office, where he’s sprinkled his own money on startups and established businesses that reflect his eclectic curiosities, his friendships and his bedrock belief in his hometown. It sounds like fun, but hardly the type of activity that would land him on Page Six.

That changed last year, when Adelman, a minority stakeholder in the Philadelphia 76ers, became the face of the NBA team’s effort to build a $1.3 billion arena called 76 Place in Philly’s Center City. Because the plan calls for demolishing part of a huge mall that sits on top of the Jefferson Street rail station, bordering Chinatown, where it could create havoc for hundreds of residents and businesses, Adelman has emerged from his relative obscurity. His face, framed by dark hair combed straight back almost to his shoulders, is the one taking the rotten tomatoes from a city deeply suspicious of gentrification, heedless self-enrichment and taxpayer extortion — demons that Adelman vows to avoid. No matter. “I’m getting the shit kicked out of me,” Adelman told Forbes. (And this was before the 76ers disappointed the entire region by losing to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday, leading to the firing of their head coach on Tuesday.) Local publications began describing Adelman with the B-word, as if trying to splash accelerant on Philly’s smoldering anti-developer fire.

Might as well find out for sure, right? It’s true, Forbes has learned. After viewing his financials, we can officially say Adelman has an estimated worth of $2 billion. Judging by the challenge he’s chosen, however, not a dollar of that will help him close what he’s called the deal of his lifetime — a personal quest using some of his own money that’s kicked up quite a tabloid-friendly ruckus in his own backyard.

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