Basic
Transportation
When
Hollywood stars and movie moguls get an itch to buy a snazzy
new sports car–a Porsche, say, or maybe an Audi–chances
are, they pay a visit to Geoffrey Emery ’86L, owner
of Beverly Hills Porsche and Beverly Hills Audi.
 After
practicing law for five years at major firms in New York and
San Francisco, Emery bought the Porsche/Audi dealership in 1991
and has turned it into the second-largest Porsche dealer in
the world, selling some seven hundred Porsches as well as eleven
hundred Audis a year. Emery himself handles many of the dealership’s
numerous VIP clients, who have included the likes of Steven
Spielberg, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, and California’s
new governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Porsches
are basic transportation in this town,” says Emery.
It’s
easy to see why the TV show Access Hollywood recently featured
a segment on Beverly Hills Porsche. Located in a former open-air
market in the heart of Beverly Hills, the dealership occupies
prime real estate and caters to a clientele that doesn’t
balk at paying $440,000 for a car (the price of the new Porsche
Carrera GT–also the average cost of a home in L.A.). Emery’s
sleek sales staff is notably diverse in terms of ethnicity,
and in a business that is overwhelmingly male, a third of his
top executives are women.
Emery
is expanding his Porsche business to the tune of more than 200,000
square feet of commercial space in Los Angeles and ten to fifteen
locations. In his huge, cluttered office above the Beverly Hills
showroom, where his Emory degree hangs on the wall, Emery can
see all his future dealerships on a dozen live-feed computer
monitors. He serves on various boards with both Porsche and
Audi.
“Porsche
is the most profitable car company in the world,” Emery
says. “And southern California is the largest Porsche market
in the world. I have to help them be successful by building
their brand identity, and that involves substantial real estate
commitments. It’s taking up a significant amount of time
right now.”
Fast
cars aren’t the only luxury commodity Emery provides to
California celebrities. He also owns Ericson Yachts and Pacific
Seacraft Corporation, renowned manufacturers of ocean cruising
yachts, which can be enjoyed for a price range of $75,000 to
$500,000. And rock stars including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen
have used musical equipment made by the Matchless Amplifier
Company, a company Emery acquired in 1992.
Emery
has hosted the L.A. chapter of the Association of Emory Alumni
at an event in his Porsche dealership and actually helped start
the chapter in 1991. “My Emory experience was very positive,”
he says.
So
young Emory graduates who head out to L.A. to seek their fortunes–if
they make it big–are encouraged to stop by and see Emery,
their fellow alum. For as little as $40,000, he’s happy
to put them in a shiny, new Porsche.–P.P.P.
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