I turned my $2,000 bar mitzvah money into a $2 billion student housing company. Here’s what I learned

David Adelman (Credit: David Adelman)

As CEO of a national student housing company, I’ve learned that the most valuable business lessons aren’t in sales or spreadsheets—they’re about people, patience, and perspective. 

I first learned that at 13, after losing a basketball game bet to family friend Alan Horwitz, founder of Campus Apartments. My loss landed me in the glamorous role of cleaning his real-estate office every Saturday. What began as punishment turned into a curiosity about the business, and soon thereafter, I invested $2,000 of my bar mitzvah money into one of Campus Apartments’ Philadelphia properties.