Along with their father, Michael and David Marcus founded APEX Property Exchange in 1989. Michael managed the institutional sales and marketing team. When APEX was sold to JPMorgan in April of 2002 it was processing in excess of B$25 in transactions annually.
In 2002 Michael started investing in the utility class wind energy arena as the Founder of BOONER Capital. Investments in Greenlight, NedPower, MidWest Renewable Energy, Foresight, Windworks and Ridgeline were followed by successful exits to BP, Shell, Iberdrola, Veolia, and Edison Mission. This was the genesis of 271’s involvement with non-US Investors.
Michael and his wife, Jennifer, along with their three children and their Portuguese Water Dog, Bocce, divide their time among Martha’s Vineyard, the Rocky Mountains, and Key Largo.
Michael chooses to live deliberately in intimate communities where there is very little anonymity and a high degree of accountability. Integrity in both community and business is the key guiding principle behind Michael's personal and professional life.
Along with their father, Michael and David Marcus founded APEX Property Exchange in 1989. Michael managed the institutional sales and marketing team. When APEX was sold to JPMorgan in April of 2002 it was processing in excess of B$25 in transactions annually.
In 2002 Michael started investing in the utility class wind energy arena as the Founder of BOONER Capital. Investments in Greenlight, NedPower, MidWest Renewable Energy, Foresight, Windworks and Ridgeline were followed by successful exits to BP, Shell, Iberdrola, Veolia, and Edison Mission. This was the genesis of 271’s involvement with non-US Investors.
Michael and his wife, Jennifer, along with their three children and their Portuguese Water Dog, Bocce, divide their time among Martha’s Vineyard, the Rocky Mountains, and Key Largo.
Michael chooses to live deliberately in intimate communities where there is very little anonymity and a high degree of accountability. Integrity in both community and business is the key guiding principle behind Michael's personal and professional life.
Chronicles
The Marcus Brothers grew up in a shared bedroom, a place with its own rules and where parents couldn’t interfere. Although they were three years apart, they were co-conspirators. David was a scientist, sometimes a little shy, always inquisitive. Michael wasn’t afraid of anything, including bullies, and if David wanted it, Michael would go get it. When David learned to ride a bike, Michael learned too, he was not going to be left behind. The Brothers were more complementary than competitive. Yes, there was teasing and wrestling, but at the end of the night they would lay in their beds, separated by a bookcase stuffed with games and books, and talk and laugh until they fell asleep.
That bedroom, complete with brown-swirly 70s wallpaper, became their study space, their laboratory, their library, and their think tank. David frequently bribed Michael to play chess way past lights out.
They started their first business together in 1989 with their father Leslie, a tax attorney. David was 26 and Michael was 23. David had most of the answers and Michael wasn’t afraid that he had none. They financed the business with credit card debt.
In its first year, APEX Property Exchange grossed $36,000, processing Section 1031 Exchanges. APEX lost no money because it had almost no expenses and they didn’t draw a salary. They shared an office and a car, just like when they were kids, they did their best work together.
David and Michael got their first break in 1991 when they signed a Class One railroad to a long-term contract. They promptly called on every other Class One railroad and secured four more long-term contracts.
Clients came to them with challenges, and together, with clients, they crafted solutions. APEX then marketed those solutions to new clients and their mantra was born: your clients will teach you the business you are in.
It didn’t take long to realize that the railroads did not own most of their containers, railcars, or locomotives. These assets were owned by leasing companies, so that is where the Brothers went.
David and Michael showed up next at GE Capital, the largest of the equipment leasing companies. The Director of Tax said they were the first to pitch GE Capital on the idea of Exchanges on equipment portfolios, and asked why it took them so long to show up. They secured contracts with five major divisions of GE Capital to handle their entire portfolios of trains, aircraft, cars, trucks, trailers, and containers. This led to contracts with 15 major auto leasing companies to handle their entire vehicle portfolios, and they soon dominated personal property Exchanges.
In the mid 1990s the Brothers contracted with a Real Estate executive from Chicago (famous for his love of motorcycles) to exchange his Gulfstream II. That transaction never closed, but they ended up helping him Exchange a failing regional shopping mall in California for M$160 in highly levered NNN properties, their first transaction in the Credit Tenant Lease space.
The business was growing organically, revenue increased 50% annually, and they still shared an office. They counted 15 of the top 30 REITs as clients, pioneered build-to-suit 1031 exchange transactions for many Fortune 500 companies, and acquired several hundred wealthy private aviation clients.
In 1999 they decided to position the company for sale. They brought their sister Jessica in to head up marketing and support their Investment Banker, KBW.
In 2000 GMAC signed a term sheet to buy the business. The Brothers flew to Detroit to meet the buyer in its riverfront office tower. GMAC told them that if they did not sell the business to them for a significantly reduced price then GMAC would get into the business regardless and “crush them.” David and Michael told them “no,” and other choice words, and left the meeting. KBW vowed to sever their relationship with GMAC and never bring them another transaction. In late 2023 they bought that building, which is now the Blue Cross Blue Shield Detroit headquarters, on a long-term lease. Karma.
They sold APEX to JPMorgan in 2002. At the time of the sale, they were processing in excess of B$25 in transactions annually.
After a stint of successes in utility scale wind development and a series of disappointments in renewable energy technologies, they returned to their tax-oriented real estate roots. In 2018 Michael and David created 271 Realty Capital to acquire large single tenant real estate assets and provide tax solutions to 1031 investors. To date they have acquired more than B$4.5 in assets totaling over 45 million square feet.
Michael and David are currently considering changing the company name from 271 (the natural log e, David’s idea) to Marcus Brothers Realty Capital, honoring how their clients have referred to them since the beginning.