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Public Storage

Self-Storage Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)Founded 1972
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Public Storage?

B. Wayne Hughes, Kenneth Volk Jr. · Founded 1972 · HQ today: Frisco, Texas

Who founded Public Storage?

Public Storage was founded by B. Wayne Hughes, Kenneth Volk Jr. in 1972 in El Cajon, California, United States. It is now led by Tom Boyle.

Founders
B. Wayne Hughes, Kenneth Volk Jr.
Founded
1972
Headquarters
Frisco, Texas
Number of founders
2
Current CEO
Tom Boyle (since 2026)
Where was Public Storage founded?
Public Storage was founded in El Cajon, California, United States in 1972. en.wikipedia.org
When was Public Storage founded?
Public Storage was founded in 1972.
Who started Public Storage?
Public Storage was founded by B. Wayne Hughes and Kenneth Volk Jr.
How old is Public Storage?
Public Storage is 54 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

B. Wayne Hughes and Kenneth Volk Jr. started Public Storage in 1972 after Hughes saw mini-warehouses filling up in Texas. They opened their first facility in El Cajon, California, and grew in the 1970s and 1980s by raising money through real estate limited partnerships. Those partnerships and affiliated entities were later consolidated into a single NYSE-listed REIT.

B. Wayne Hughes

Co-founder 1972

Background

B. Wayne Hughes was a California real estate executive before co-founding Public Storage in 1972.

Role at Public Storage

B. Wayne Hughes (1933-2021) co-founded Public Storage in 1972 with Kenneth Volk Jr. and led it for three decades, building the orange-door brand and financing growth through real estate partnerships before consolidating them into a public REIT. He was also a Thoroughbred breeder who owned Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, which bred 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. He died in 2021.

Education: University of Southern California; Mark Keppel High School.

Bradley Wayne Hughes was born on September 28, 1933 and died on August 18, 2021. B. Wayne Hughes was born in 1933.

Kenneth Volk Jr.

Co-founder 1972

Background

Real estate investor.

Role at Public Storage

Kenneth Volk Jr. co-founded Public Storage in 1972 alongside B. Wayne Hughes. While Hughes was the absolute visionary who recognized the massive potential of the self-storage concept, Volk provided the crucial initial real estate expertise and seed capital required to purchase and develop the very first properties in Southern California. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Public Storage: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Tom Boyle

Chief Executive Officer

2026 – Present

As CFO, he acts as the absolute financial backbone of the REIT, ensuring it generates the massive free cash flow required to consistently increase its legendary dividend.

Joe Fisher

President and Chief Financial Officer

2026 – Present

As CFO (and eventually President), he drove the massive technological modernization of the company's incredibly vast, legacy property portfolio.

Joseph D. Russell Jr.

President and Chief Executive Officer

2019 – 2026

Serving as CEO, he aggressively defends Public Storage's position as the absolute largest self-storage owner on Earth, strictly maintaining its premium pricing power.

B. Wayne Hughes

Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1972 – 2002

He financed early growth through real estate limited partnerships and merged them into a single trust in 1995. Ronald Havner succeeded him in 2002.

Keep researching Public Storage

Who Founded Public Storage? FAQ

Who founded Public Storage and when was the company established?

Public Storage was founded in 1972 in Glendale, California, by B. Wayne Hughes and Kenneth Volk Jr. with an initial $50,000 investment.

What inspired B. Wayne Hughes and Kenneth Volk Jr. to start Public Storage in 1972?

While traveling through Texas, B. Wayne Hughes noticed primitive mini-warehouses on the roadside that were 100% full with waiting lists. Recognizing that suburban American families had expanding collections of possessions and no place to store them, Hughes and Volk saw a large untapped real estate opportunity in Southern California.

Who was B. Wayne Hughes and what was his philanthropic legacy?

B. Wayne Hughes (1933 to 2021) was an American billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist. Beyond building Public Storage into an S&P 500 leader, he was a passionate Thoroughbred horse breeder who owned historic Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, breeding 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.

Who founded Public Storage?

Public Storage was founded in 1972 by Bradley Wayne Hughes (1933–2021) and Kenneth Volk Jr. with an initial joint investment of $50,000.

What was B. Wayne Hughes’s professional background before starting Public Storage?

Wayne Hughes graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) and worked as a senior executive at real estate firm Property Research Corporation before deciding to strike out on his own as an entrepreneur.

How did Kenneth Volk Jr. contribute to the company’s founding?

Kenneth Volk Jr. was an experienced Southern California commercial developer who designed and constructed the early single-story concrete block mini-warehouses, ensuring low construction costs and efficient site layouts.

Where was Public Storage’s first facility opened?

The first Public Storage mini-warehouse opened in 1972 along Interstate 8 in El Cajon, California, outside San Diego; it reached 100% occupancy within months, proving the consumer demand concept.

How did the founders finance the rapid expansion across California and Texas?

Rather than taking heavy bank debt, the founders syndicated private limited partnerships, raising capital from hundreds of private retail investors who sought real estate depreciation and steady rental distributions.

What was Wayne Hughes’s philanthropic legacy?

Hughes donated hundreds of millions of dollars to pediatric cancer research, Christian charities, and his alma mater USC (where he was one of the largest benefactors in university history).

What other major business ventures was Wayne Hughes famous for?

In 2004, Hughes purchased historic Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, turning it into one of the world’s leading thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operations (home to champion sire Into Mischief and Kentucky Derby winner Authentic).

What enduring philosophy from the founders guides Public Storage today?

The founders’ core philosophy—that self-storage is an everyday essential utility, that prime roadside location and clean facilities command pricing power, and that debt should be kept to an absolute minimum—remains the bedrock of Public Storage.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.