Rob Speyer

Speyer was born to a Jewish family, the son of Lynn (née Tishman) and Jerry Speyer.^[4] His great-grandfather, Julius Tishman, founded Tishman Realty and Construction; and his father Jerry Speyer and his maternal grandfather, Robert Tishman, founded the real estate development firm Tishman Speyer.^[5] His parents divorced in 1987.^[6] In 1992, he graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.^[7] He is an emeritus member of the Board of Visitors at Columbia College.

He worked as a reporter for the New York Daily News before joining Tishman Speyer in 1995 where he worked on management and leasing before moving to the redevelopment unit in the late 1990s.^[8][9][10]

In 2015, Speyer became Tishman Speyer's president and chief executive officer after previously sharing the role with his father.^[11][12]

Speyer was a member of the Real Estate Board of New York's (REBNY) executive committee since 2004, and became the chairman of the committee in 2013, a role he held for five years before being succeeded by Bill Rubin.^{[13][14][15][16]} He was named chairman of the advisory board of the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City in 2006, reappointed in 2014 by Mayor Bill de Blasio^[15] and then reappointed by Mayor Adams. He is Co-Chair of the Partnership for New York City, a position he has held since 2022.^[17][18]

Speyer sits on the board of trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital; the board of visitors of Columbia College (emeritus);^[19] the board of directors of the Real Estate Roundtable;^[20] the board of trustees of the Citizens Budget Commission;^[2] and on the board of directors of Exor.^[21]

In 2008, Speyer married Anne-Cecilie Engell, who is originally from Denmark.^[6]