KB Home
KB Home is one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, founded in 1957 as Kaufman & Broad. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Company has operating divisions in 13 states, building communities from coast to coast. KB Home is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KBH.
In fiscal 2005, the company delivered homes to 37,140 families in the United States and France and had revenue of over $9 billion.
KB Home is a lending partner with and offers complete mortgage services through Countrywide Home Loans.
For more information about any of KB Home’s new home communities or complete mortgage services offered through Countrywide KB Home Loans, call 888-KB-HOMES.
KB Home History
In November of 2006, KB Home President, CEO and Chairman Bruce Karatz resigned after an internal accounting probe into his alleged backdating of stock options grants. He was succeeded by Jeffrey T. Mezger.
KB Home also announced the firing of its head of Human Resources, Gary A. Ray, and the resignation of its Chief Legal Officer, Richard B. Hirst. The company determined that Karatz and Ray had picked grant dates under the company’s stock option plans. In backdating, a grant date is manipulated to look like it was made when the company share price was low. That increases a recipient’s potential profit because options are typically structured to allow recipients to benefit from price increases.
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 the early 2000s, acquired Las Vegas-based Lewis Homes. Has acquired numerous smaller builders in their 50-year history as the company expanded into new markets.
In 2001 KB Home was sued when homeowners in a subdivision in Arlington, Texas discovered that their homes were built on top of a practice bombing range from the 1940s and 50s which the military had cleared for development. Harris, Byron. “Home builder dispute intensifies”, WFAA-TV, March 1, 2005.
In 2003 KB Home became the first big homebuilder to adopt the NAHB’s National Housing Quality certification program nationwide.
As of May 2007, 28 KB Home divisions had been awarded the NHQ Certified Builder seal by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Contact KB HOME
HouseCALL® toll free 888-KB-HOMES
For information about KB Home communities throughout the United States, HouseCALL Center is your own personal information source at KB Home. Calls open 7 days a week, (Monday through Friday 7am-6pm and Saturday and Sunday 8am-5pm, PST).
Corporate Office
KB HOME
10990 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Tel: 310.231.4000
Fax 310.231.4222
Investor Relations
Mr. Kelly Masuda
SVP, Treasurer
310.231.4000
Transfer Agent
Mellon Investor Services, LLC
P.O. Box 3315
South Hackensack, NJ 07606-1915
888.667.7640