PATRICK Z. ZALUPSKI

FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, DREAM FINDERS HOMES, JACKSONVILLE

Zalupski heads up a fast-growing residential development company and has earned statewide attention for his $1.7-billion bid to purchase the Tampa Bay Rays. The billionaire developer — dubbed “Builder of the Year” by Builder Magazine — launched into homebuilding at the height of the Great Recession, selling 27 homes in 2009. By 2018, Dream Finders was building more than 1,000 homes annually and expects to build around 9,250 single-family homes this year in more than 220 communities across 10 states. Ranked by Florida Trend as the 36th biggest public company in Florida, Dream Finders is also big on local philanthropy, pledging $2.5 million to support the University of Florida’s new downtown Jacksonville campus and providing a matching donation in support of Stetson University’s Annual Giving Program. Zalupski is a graduate of Stetson, where he studied finance.