RANDY BENDERSON

PRESIDENT, BENDERSON DEVELOPMENT, SARASOTA

Benderson Development started in 1949 when Randy Benderson's grandfather bought a bankrupt brewery in Buffalo, N.Y. Randy is the third-generation leader of what remains one of the country's largest privately held real estate companies. The company moved to Sarasota in 2004 and specializes in buying underperforming properties — like that old brewery — and “Bendersizing” them into successful assets. The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota remains a showcase project among the more than 1,000 properties Benderson Development owns in at least 40 states, which include 200 Florida properties. Benderson and his wife Lori donated $5 million to establish the Benderson Family Program for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute after she was treated for the disease.