Description:
Meet Bill Gross Born on January 14, 1959 in Santa Monica, California, the oldest son of Richard and Rhoda Gross, he was raised in La Habra, California, with both a brother and a sister both active in sports and an honor student. As a young boy, he trained on the piano with pianist Alex Hock of Jolliard, but gave it up when it interfered with Little League practice. At La Habra High, Bill placed 3rd in the state of California in Debate as a junior, earning numerous college scholarship offers. He attended the University of Redlands (Redlands, California) as a freshman, and competed at several national debate tournaments. One of his partners that year was former attorney for Tom Bradley and current special counsel to President Bill Clinton Mark Fabiani. At the end of his first year, he was offered a full academic scholarship to join the debate team at the University of Southern California, where he represented the University in debate tournaments around the country, including Baylor University, Northwestern University, and Dartmouth College. At the Dartmout tournament, he and his partner, both only sophomores, lost a close split decision to the eventual national champions from Northwestern Univeristy. Separated for their junior years to get additional experience, Bill's partner died in a tragic automobile accident, and for his senior year he turned his energies away from debate to politics and formed a 350 member campaign organization and landed a position as an intern to California's United States Senator. Bill is very active fundraising for his alma mater, USC, and the United Jewish Fund. Bill serves on the board of directors of the USC Minority in Real Estate Program. He also speaks to local organizations and schools. Currently, he lives in Los Angeles, California, 4 blocks from the office, with his wife of 21 years, Nanci, and their 11 year-old daughter Eliana. They met in 1985 while both were living near Boca Raton, Florida. Their first 3 dates were to see the Lakers play the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, with Nanci, a native of Boston, of course rooting for her beloved Celtics.