Public Storage is an S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on self-storage. Founded in 1972 in Southern California, it built a national network under its orange-door brand and now operates more than 4,500 U.S. facilities. It also holds an equity stake in Shurgard, a European self-storage company. In 2026 the company changed CEO, relocated its headquarters to Frisco, Texas, and completed the largest acquisition in its history. The company is headquartered in Glendale, California. Public Storage was founded in 1972 in El Cajon, California, by B. Wayne Hughes and Kenneth Volk Jr., pioneering the modern self-storage real estate industry and growing into the world’s largest self-storage REIT.
Public Storage makes money by owning self-storage properties and renting units to households and small businesses, usually on month-to-month agreements. That short lease term lets it adjust move-in rates often and raise rents for existing tenants over time. Self-storage rent is the bulk of revenue. Ancillary income comes from tenant reinsurance on stored goods, locks and packing supplies, and fees for managing storage facilities owned by third parties. Facilities need few on-site staff, so property-level margins are high; the company reported a same-store NOI margin of 77.1% in Q1 2026. As a REIT it pays out most of its taxable income as dividends.