Jeff Jacobs | Partner

Jeff Jacobs is a proud San Diegan, having moved here with his family in 1966. Jeff graduated in 1988 from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in international economics. He then began his professional life as Qualcomm’s 32nd employee. During Jeff’s tenure, Qualcomm rose from a small privately held company to one of the top 50 valued companies in the world and San Diego’s largest private employer. Over his 22-year career at Qualcomm, Jeff rose through the ranks to become Chief Marketing Officer and an Executive Officer of the company. 

After leaving Qualcomm, Jeff began focusing on higher visibility lifestyle investments. In 2010, Jeff and three partners acquired the Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa. In 2012, Jeff orchestrated a more than $30 million renovation of the resort. Shortly thereafter, Rancho Valencia earned both five star and five diamond ratings.  In 2015 Rancho Valencia was named the #1 hotel in the United States by U.S. News and World Report, and it is now annually on lists of the best hotels in the world.

In 2013, Jeff was a member of the lead acquisition group of the NBA Sacramento Kings and is now a member of the organization’s executive committee. Jeff focused his efforts on the design and construction of a 750,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art arena and practice facility in downtown Sacramento that opened on-time and under budget in September 2016. Jeff is also involved in the creation and build-out of up to 1.5 million sq. ft. of retail, office, and hotel space in the vicinity of the new arena that has already begun to transform downtown Sacramento.

Jeff is also a limited partner in the MLB San Diego Padres, and he is an investor in more than 20 real estate investments, with the vast majority of them in San Diego.

Jeff is an active fundraiser and philanthropist, sitting on the boards of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and UCSD San Diego Health. He was named the 2015 Corporate Directors Forum Director of the Year for Philanthropy.

​In his personal life, Jeff is an avid endurance athlete, completing the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon World Championships four times and counting. He is married to his beautiful wife Annie, has two sons and one daughter, and enjoys spending family time with them on the same La Jolla beach where he grew up with his three brothers.

​Stay Informed

Be a part of this exciting vision for the future of San Diego’s Bayfront. Sign up below for news and updates on Seaport San Diego, or lend your voice to our community outreach survey and listening sessions.