Building for This Lifetime & Beyond

Early Life and Education

Jay’s story begins in Seoul, South Korea. He spent the first three months of his life in an orphanage before being adopted by an American family and brought to the United States. He was raised in Seal Beach, California by a single mother earning less $30,000 a year as a secretary, while his half-sister Leslie looked after him.

Jay learned early that success was something you built for yourself, not something you waited for. It took sacrifice, dedication, and resilience. He realized that in an arena with 10,000 people, he had to be willing to outwork and outpace everyone in order to be victorious.

During his senior year, Jay lost both of the people he considered his parents; his adoptive mother and his uncle. It was an incredibly hard chapter that ultimately ignited an ambition and tenacity that he continues to apply to every aspect of his life.

While pursuing his degree, he worked seven days a week, studied nonstop, and devoured every book on business he could find.

In 2007, he earned his degree in Economics from UC Santa Barbara, followed by his MBA from NYU Stern in 2015. Choosing to advance his education in New York helped to fortify and sharpen his capabilities in entrepreneurship, business ventures, and dealmaking.

Career

Jay Roberts is a Miami real estate developer, entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Prosper Group. He is the co-developer of Bugatti Residences Miami, Bugatti's first branded residential development in the United States.

Through Prosper Group, Roberts focuses on developing luxury residential, waterfront and hospitality properties in Miami and across Florida.

Bugatti Residences Miami

Jay Roberts and Prosper Group are developing Bugatti Residences Miami alongside Versluys Group, the Belgian real estate developer with more than a century of development heritage.

Created in collaboration with Bugatti, the project marks the legendary French marque's first branded residential development in the United States.

Located on the Miami River at the edge of Brickell, Bugatti Residences Miami brings together an international team that includes Brandon Haw Architecture, Yabu Pushelberg and luxury residential operator Rhodium.

For Roberts, the project reflects Prosper Group's strategy of acquiring irreplaceable waterfront sites and partnering with globally recognized brands, architects, designers and operators to create a new generation of landmark real estate in Miami.

From Wall Street to Miami Real Estate Development

Before founding Prosper Group, Jay Roberts worked in real estate investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.

His experience included institutional real estate mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and capital markets transactions. Roberts' deal teams worked on transactions including the $8 billion carveout of MGM Growth Properties and its $1.2 billion IPO, as well as Paramount Group's $2.6 billion IPO.

Roberts later brought that institutional finance and capital markets background to real estate development, founding Prosper Group and building a development platform focused primarily on high-end residential and hospitality projects in Florida.

Today, Roberts leads Prosper Group's development strategy, capital formation, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including the firm's role as co-developer of Bugatti Residences Miami.