JLL (company) facts for kids
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Aon Center in Chicago, which houses JLL's headquarters
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| Public | |
| Traded as |
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| Industry | Real estate |
| Founded | 1783 London, United Kingdom March 16, 1999 by the merger of Jones Lang Wootton and LaSalle Partners |
| Founder | Richard Winstanley |
| Headquarters | Aon Center Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Siddharth ("Bobby") Mehta, Chairman Christian Ulbrich, President & CEO Karen Brennan, CFO |
| Services |
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| Revenue |  US$20.76 billion (2023) |
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Operating income
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US$577 million (2023) |
| US$225 million (2023) |
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| Total assets |  US$16.06 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$4.410 billion (2023) |
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Number of employees
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106,100 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries | LaSalle Investment Management |
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (or JLL) is a big company that helps people and businesses with buildings and land all around the world. It started in the United Kingdom and now has offices in 80 different countries. JLL also helps people manage their money by investing in real estate.
The company offers special technology products through a part of its business called JLL Technologies. It also invests in new companies that create technology for property, through its JLL Spark fund. JLL is a very large company, ranked 190 on the Fortune 500 list of top companies.
Contents
History of JLL
How JLL Started
JLL was formed in 1999 when two companies, Jones Lang Wootton and LaSalle Partners, joined together. This big merger cost about $435 million.
Jones Lang Wootton was a very old company. It started in London, United Kingdom, in the 1700s as an auctioneer. By 1976, it had grown and opened offices in the United States, starting in New York City. When it merged with LaSalle Partners, Jones Lang Wootton had 4,000 employees in 33 countries.
LaSalle Partners' Story
The other company, LaSalle Partners, was founded in 1966 by William Sanders. It was first called International Development Corp and was in El Paso, Texas. In 1968, Sanders changed the name to LaSalle Partners and moved the company to Chicago, Illinois.
LaSalle Partners first helped with investment banking (helping companies raise money), managing investments, and land services. By 1997, LaSalle had grown a lot. It had three main parts: Management Services, Corporate and Financial Services, and Investment Management. It also had ten offices in the U.S. and seven offices in other countries.
Growing Bigger Through Mergers
After JLL was formed, it continued to grow by buying other companies. In 2008, JLL bought The Staubach Company. Roger Staubach, a famous person, became an important leader at JLL until he retired in 2018.
In 2011, JLL merged with a UK company called King Sturge. This deal was worth about £197 million. Together, they became the largest property agent in the UK. The combined company had 2,700 employees and 43 offices. JLL also bought Guardian Property Asset Management in Ireland in 2015. By 2016, JLL had bought 80 companies and opened 100 offices around the world.
New Technologies and Ideas
JLL started to focus on "proptech" in 2017. Proptech means using technology in real estate. They created a new part of their business called JLL Spark. In 2018, JLL Spark started a special fund of $100 million. This fund invests in new technology companies that help with real estate, like apps that connect people to shared office spaces.
In 2019, JLL bought another company called HFF for about $1.8 billion. This helped JLL offer even more services.
In 2021, JLL made some changes to its technology business. It sold a software company called Stessa, which it had bought earlier. In return, JLL got a small part of another company called Roofstock.
JLL also manages the London offices for the social media company Facebook. In 2021, JLL bought Skyline AI, a company that uses AI to analyze commercial properties.
In late 2021 and early 2022, JLL bought two more proptech companies. It bought Building Engines, a company that makes software for property management. It also bought Hank, a company that uses AI to make buildings use less energy.
In June 2023, JLL launched a new software tool called Carbon Pathfinder. This tool helps companies find out how much carbon pollution their buildings create. It also helps them find ways to reduce these emissions.
JLL also created its own special large language model (LLM) for its employees. This tool is called JLL GPT and was launched in August 2023. It was the first of its kind for a big real estate company. This AI model is being trained with JLL's own information. It will help employees answer questions about commercial real estate.
What JLL Does
JLL's main office is in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the largest real estate brokerage firms in the world. As of December 2023, JLL has more than 106,000 employees. They work in 80 different countries around the globe.
How JLL Helps Businesses
JLL offers many services to help people and businesses with real estate. These services include:
- Helping people invest in properties
- Managing properties and buildings
- Buying and selling properties
- Renting out spaces
- Managing building projects
- Developing new properties
- Using technology for properties (proptech)
In 2014, the company started using "JLL" as its shorter name for marketing. However, its official legal name is still Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.
Leaders at JLL
The current CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of JLL is Christian Ulbrich. He became CEO in October 2016. Karen Brennan became the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in July 2020. Siddharth ("Bobby") Mehta became the chairman of the board in 2020.
JLL's Green Efforts
In 2022, JLL started the JLL Foundation. This is a non-profit group that focuses on climate change and sustainability. The foundation gives special loans to new companies. These loans have no interest. The companies use the money to create sustainable products or technologies. For example, they might turn plastic waste into materials for building.
