Founder, Chairman
Mobilitie LLC
Founder
IoTX Alliance
THE BUSINESS: Newport Beach firm is an operator and owner of cellphone towers, along with line of business providing upgraded wireless service to sports arenas, concert venues, casinos and other large venues; helping the country’s largest wireless companies deploy small cell base stations, which the company uses to prep its networks for upcoming 5G service.
THE SALES: Mobilitie scored its first big payday in 2012 with the $1.1 billion sale of 2,300 cellphone towers, a “portion” of the company’s assets. In June, announced sale of Mobilitie to Australia’s BAI Communications, in deal banking sources peg at close to $1.7 billion. The deal, expected to close in a few months, represents all wireless assets of Jabara.
PORTFOLIO: Extensive real estate holdings and related investments, much of them local. He’s spent more than $200 million on residential and commercial real estate since 2012, including several Newport Beach buildings. He’s the main financial backer of Villa Real Estate, a luxury home brokerage that’s among the largest in SoCal coastal markets. Gross sales at Villa are well over $1 billion annually.
Backs Chihuahua Cerveza, an OC-based beer maker that’s rapidly expanding its distribution across the U.S.
NEXT STEPS: Jabara says he’s putting his attention post-Mobility sale on his IoXT Alliance, a group he created that’s designed to handle the rapidly increasing demand for Internet of Things device certification that meets security requirements across a variety of product categories. Also putting proceeds of Mobilitie sale into more real estate, he says.
PHILANTHROPY: Supports several schools and charities, including New York University, University of Southern California, Orange Coast College, Sage Hill School in Newport Beach and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
In 2012, Jabara was in the running to buy the San Diego Padres.
He wasn’t able to buy the team, but with Mobilitie’s services providing wireless services to ballparks and sports stadiums across the country, he found a way to make his way into MLB and other sports leagues—and make money too.
• NET WORTH: $1 billion
• LAST YEAR: $735 million
• RESIDENCE: Newport Beach
• SOURCE OF WEALTH: telecom business, real estate, other investments
