Florida is known for a lot of things: the longest contiguous coastline in the United States, Walt Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, Miami, golf courses, and alligators. But did you know that Florida also boasts the third-largest concentration of billionaires in the United States and the second-highest number of CEOs?
Particularly in the last few years since the pandemic, Florida has become a heavy-hitting hub for finance, technology and entrepreneurship.
With top hedge funds, tech unicorns and global conglomerates relocating offices and employees to the Sunshine State, it has also seen a surge in entrepreneurship, investment capital and innovation. Leading the charge is some of the country’s top CEOs and founders.
For those looking to follow some of the most impactful Florida CEOs currently shaping their respective industries, here are seven names to watch.
1. Charles Gaudet
Charles Gaudet is the founder and CEO of Predictable Profits, a leading business coaching organization that is known as the top advisor to 7 and 8 figure entrepreneurs. As the author of “The Predictable Profits Playbook” and the podcast host of “Beyond 7 Figures”, Yahoo Finance called Charles Gaudet “The CEO Whisperer”. Gaudet’s company advises executives on the sales, marketing and leadership strategies that are needed to become an industry leader.
2. Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois is the managing partner of Khosla Ventures and one of the country’s most high profile venture capital investors. Khosla invests in bold, early-stage companies operating in consumer technology, enterprise, fintech, medtech, sustainability, and more. Rabois was an early stage investor in Paypal, LinkedIn, Xoom, Yelp and Square among others. He is also known as a member of the prestigious Paypal Mafia.
3. Dena Jalbert
Dena Jalbert is the founder and CEO of Align Business Advisory, which has been recognized as one of the top M&A advisory firms for small and middle market companies. Align has facilitated more than $2 billion in buy and sell-side transactions for its clients. Based in the Orlando area with an additional office in Tampa, Align has a dominant presence in Florida as well as nationwide. Jalbert has been recognized as one of the top 25 women in mid-market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine.
4. Mauricio Gruener
Mauricio Gruener is co-founder and co-CEO of GFG Capital, an investment powerhouse headquartered in Miami. GFG provides wealth management and investment advisory services to high-net-worth individuals and their families. Additionally, Gruener is co-CEO of Momentum Real Estate Partners, a real estate private equity firm which holds a $1.4B real estate portfolio consisting of more than 5,000 units across the country.
5. Laura Kozelouzek
A developer and operator with more than 30 years in the hospitality and flexible workspace industries, Laura Kozelouzek founded Quest Workspace in 2010, growing it into the largest woman-owned workspace company in the United States.
6. Greg Galant
Greg Galant co-founded and is CEO of Muck Rack. This platform allows public relations teams to pitch their stories to the right journalists, build relationships with the media, monitor news, and quantify the impact of stories. Muck Rack has become one of the most influential tech companies in media and journalism.
7. Jorge Perez
As chairman and CEO of The Related Group, Jorge Perez oversees one of the most prominent real estate companies in the world known for building and operating multifamily apartments. Additionally, Perez wrote an acclaimed book about real estate called The Powerhouse Principles.
Written in partnership with Tom White.
