KB Home history

In 1959, Kaufman and Broad expanded into the contract housing business and developed elderly housing and college dormitories as well as new homes for the armed forces and public housing agencies.

In 1961, the company went public and raised about $1.8 million in its initial public offering.

By the end of 1962, Broad and Kaufman had delivered more than 300 entry-level priced homes in Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona.

In 1963, the company entered southern California and developed an attached townhouse community in Orange County.

1965: Kaufman and Broad founds the International Mortgage Company.

In 1966, the company entered into the relatively new business of cable TV franchising with the formation of its second wholly owned subsidiary, Nation Wide Cablevision.

Through its acquisition of the local building company Kay Homes in 1967, the company became the largest home producer in the San Francisco Bay area.

In 1968, in an effort to better define itself as a diversified corporation, the company changed its name to Kaufman and Broad, Inc.

In 1969, it became the first housing builder to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

By 1971, Home Systems operated eight plants throughout the country and had sales of 9,000 units.

Net housing revenues for 1973 had increased to $264.4 million with net income more than 9 percent of sales.

More than a half million people toured the home, which featured, among other things, a car inside the attached garage. As a result of high interest rates and a national recession--and the concomitant soft new home sales in 1974--the company experienced its first full year net loss.

In 1975, it expanded into new markets such as Brussels, Belgium, introduced new products, and offered new services such as the industry's first ten-year homeowner warranty.

In 1985, the company acquired Bati-Service, an entry-level home builder in France.

In 1989, the French division approved plans to build Washington Plaza, a new Paris office complex, securing $600 million from pre-sales to groups of institutional investors, a transaction that represented the largest single real estate deal in that country's history.

For 1991, Kaufman and Broad's net orders worldwide for new construction increased from the previous year, and included California, where the nation's recession continued.

In 1992, Kaufman and Broad had record deliveries in California, up 27 percent from the previous year.

1993: Kaufman and Broad opens offices in Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado, and the following year, in Utah.

As part of a promotion, in 1997 the company built a life-sized replica of The Simpsons cartoon home in Henderson, Nevada.

The company's expansion spree and a healthy housing market helped raise the company's revenues to $3.8 billion in 1999.

Kaufman and Broad introduced its Dream Home Studios in 2000, an updated and vastly expanded version of the company's new home showrooms.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Karatz was one of the most highly paid executives in 2005, earning almost $156 million, primarily from options.

In April 2008, KB Home published its first sustainability report, which outlined the company's environmental, social responsibility and economic sustainability accomplishments.

In March 2011, KB Home, in partnership with SunPower, introduced its first community with solar as a standard feature.

In January 2019, KB Home, in partnership with Builder Magazine, built a model home called KB Home ProjeKt, in Henderson, Nevada.