Business Leader, 82, Dies

Sperber Burton Sperber, founder of a landscape company started in North Hollywood that he turned into a national industry leader, has passed away. He was 82. Sperber died Sept. 30 following complications from surgery. A memorial service took place Oct. 5 at Mount Sinai Memorial Park and Mortuary in Burbank. Nothing made Sperber happier than watching ValleyCrest Landscape Companies grow and see people do great things inside and outside the company, said his son, ValleyCrest President and CEO Richard Sperber, in a prepared statement. “I’m taking on the personal responsibility to carry on his legacy and values he instilled in me as I lead the company forward,” Richard Sperber said. Burton Sperber started in the landscape business as a teenager and bought the company that became ValleyCrest when he was 19 years old. The business started out in landscape design and later expanded to building and maintaining landscapes. Local projects ValleyCrest contributed to include the Americana at Brand, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Getty Center. The company designed the landscaping for amusements parks, sports stadiums, public parks and casinos across the U.S. In 2006, Sperber sold a majority share of the ValleyCrest Companies to MSD Capital, L.P., the investment firm of computer mogul Michael Dell. At the time of the deal, Sperber told the San Fernando Valley Business Journal ValleyCrest was attracted to MSD Capital because of its real estate investments in luxury hotels, commercial and multi-family properties and land development. “We service real estate,” Sperber said in an interview. “That’s our business – in maintenance and building new gardens.” In addition to accolades from the landscaping industry and for his work with charitable groups, Sperber was an accomplished magician and inductee into the Inner Magic Circle of England, one of a few Americans to receive the honor. —Mark R. Madler