Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959) is an American businessman. A billionaire, he is the founder and former chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company. He is the chair of the board of trustees at the University of Southern California and was previously the president of the Los Angeles Police Commission and a member of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. Caruso ran as a Democrat in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, losing to fellow Democrat Karen Bass. He was previously registered as non-partisan, and before that he was a Republican.