Robert Pera
American engineer and businessman; founder, chairman and chief executive of Ubiquiti; controlling owner of the Memphis Grizzlies
| Robert Pera
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Engineer; businessman |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Ubiquiti; controlling owner of the Memphis Grizzlies |
| Education | University of California, San Diego (BA, BS, MS) |
Robert J. Pera (born 1978) is an American engineer and businessman. He founded the wireless and networking equipment company Ubiquiti in 2003 and is its chief executive and chairman, as well as its majority shareholder.[1][2] He is the controlling owner of the National Basketball Association's Memphis Grizzlies.[2][3] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Robert Pera 77th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$29.62 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Wireless networking.[4][5] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Robert Pera 67th, at US$31.7 billion.[6]
Early life and education
Forbes gives his year of birth as 1978.[4] Ubiquiti's proxy statement says he holds a BA in Japanese language and a BS and an MS in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego.[1] Forbes reports that he missed a year of high school because of a rare heart-valve infection.[4]
Career
Pera worked as a wireless engineer at Apple from January 2003 to February 2005.[1] He founded Ubiquiti in October 2003, and the company began its current operations in 2005. He has been its chief executive and a director since then, and chairman since December 2012.[1] Forbes says he founded the company within ten months of joining Apple and left Apple to work at Ubiquiti full time in 2005. It adds that the company sells wireless broadband systems with a focus on emerging markets.[4]
Ubiquiti's annual report for the year ended 30 June 2026 gives revenues of US$3.3 billion, up from US$2.6 billion in fiscal 2025 and US$1.9 billion in fiscal 2024. Net income was US$960.3 million. The company employed or contracted 1,818 full-time-equivalent staff, most of them in research and development.[2]
The annual report states that Pera beneficially owned 56,278,181 Ubiquiti shares on 21 August 2026. As a result, he can exercise a majority of the voting power and control the outcome of matters put to shareholders, including the election of directors.[2] The 2025 proxy statement gives 60,499,655 shares outstanding on its record date and calls Pera the company's largest stockholder.[1] Those two figures imply a stake of about 93%, which matches the 93% reported by Forbes.[2][1][4]
The proxy statement also describes a corporate aircraft policy adopted in May 2020. It requires Pera to use the company aircraft for all business and personal travel, citing a "bone-fide business-oriented security concern" (spelling as in the filing), and allows his immediate family and guests to travel on it.[1]
Memphis Grizzlies
On 25 October 2012 the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies to an investor group led by Pera.[3] Forbes says this made him the league's youngest controlling owner at the time.[4] Ubiquiti's 2026 annual report lists the Grizzlies as a related party, noting that the team buys Ubiquiti products through the company's web store on ordinary terms.[2]
Wealth
Forbes gives wireless networking as the source of his wealth. Nearly all of his fortune comes from his Ubiquiti stake.[4][5]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 14 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2012. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[6][4]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 854 | 1.5 | – | – |
| 2013 | – | – | 293 | 1.9 |
| 2014 | 642 | 2.7 | 219 | 2.8 |
| 2015 | 1054 | 1.8 | 307 | 2.2 |
| 2016 | 906 | 2.0 | 204 | 3.2 |
| 2017 | 660 | 3.0 | 240 | 3.2 |
| 2018 | 499 | 4.3 | 127 | 5.3 |
| 2019 | 215 | 6.9 | 95 | 6.4 |
| 2020 | 208 | 7.0 | 45 | 10.5 |
| 2021 | 100 | 18.3 | 38 | 19.0 |
| 2022 | 127 | 14.6 | 37 | 17.6 |
| 2023 | 113 | 15.5 | 105 | 8.3 |
| 2024 | 432 | 6.4 | 100 | 10.0 |
| 2025 | 135 | 15.7 | 39 | 24.0 |
| 2026 | 67 | 31.7 | 38 | 29.6 |
Philanthropy
No documented philanthropy by Pera was found in the sources checked.
Political activity
No political donations, offices or lobbying registrations were found for Pera in the sources checked. The FEC query for his name in the 2022–2026 cycles returned no records attributable to him; the matches were other people with similar names.[7]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
Company-level: Ubiquiti's 2026 annual report lists China and Taiwan among the locations of its research and development staff.[2]
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
US citizen. No federal political donations by him were identified in FEC data.[7]
Other international links
Iran (company-level): in March 2014 Ubiquiti agreed to pay US$504,225 to settle apparent violations of US Iran sanctions between 2008 and 2011, without admitting them. The company's 8-K filing names OFAC's Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations.[8]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Ubiquiti Inc., Definitive proxy statement (Schedule 14A) for the 2025 annual meeting US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 24 October 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Ubiquiti Inc., Annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2026 US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 NBA Communications, Grizzlies sale approval: Robert Pera (official release) NBA, 25 October 2012, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Robert Pera (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/robert-pera/) Forbes, live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "PERA, ROBERT"; 2026 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried together with the same parameters; top 100 records by amount; records filtered by employer/occupation and name, memo entries excluded U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Ubiquiti Networks, Inc., Current report (Form 8-K) on settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 5 March 2014, accessed 21 October 2026.