Tutor Perini Corporation is one of the largest general contractors in the United States. At the end of 2013 it reported an annual revenue of approximately $4.2 billion. Tutor Perini is headquartered in Sylmar, California, and works on many construction projects throughout the United States and Canada. Specific areas of focus are civil infrastructure, building infrastructure, and specialty contracting.
History
Albert G. Tutor began the A. G. Tutor Company Inc. in 1949 and the company grew throughout the century under Albert’s son, Ronald Tutor. In 1972 the Tutor Company partnered with N.M. Saliba and became Tutor-Saliba. Perini Corporation was founded in 1894 in Ashland, Massachusetts by a stonemason named Bonfiglio Perini. Under the direction of Bonfiglio's grandson, Lou Perini, the company moved into the real-estate business, developing in Palm Beach County, Florida. Later real-estate ventures were less successful, leaving Perini deeply in debt by the mid-1990s. In 1997, Ron Tutor helped Perini Corp. recapitalize alongside investor Richard Blum. Tutor became CEO of Perini in 2000 and merged Perini with Tutor-Saliba in 2008. Perini was listed on the NYSE on April 1, 2004. Richard Blum divested his Perini stock in 2005. Perini was headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts until relocating to Sylmar, California in 2009. In May 2009, Perini shareholders voted to change the company's name to Tutor Perini Corporation. Tutor Perini issued $300 million of Senior Notes in October 2010. Tutor Perini proceeded to acquire six companies over the next nine months.
Acquisitions
In 2003, Perini acquired Florida-based James A. Cummings. In 2005, the company acquired Cherry Hill Construction, a Maryland-based contractor, and California-based Rudolph & Sletten, Inc. In January 2009, the corporation acquired Philadelphia-based building contractor Keating Building Corporation. November 1, 2010 - Superior Gunite, a structural concrete firm headquartered in Lakeview Terrace, CA. January 3, 2011 – Fisk Electric, a provider of electrical and technological services headquartered in Houston, TX April 4, 2011 – Anderson Companies, a general contractor headquartered in Gulfport, MS June 1, 2011 – Frontier-Kemper Constructors, a provider of numerous construction services including civil construction, mine development, drilling, tunneling, and electrical services headquartered in Evansville, IN July 1, 2011 – Lunda Construction Company, provider of various construction services such as the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of bridges, railroads, and other civil structures headquartered in Black River Falls, WI July 1, 2011 – GreenStar Services Corporation, an electrical and mechanical services provider that is composed of 3 operating entities: Five Star Electric Corporation, WDF, and Nagelbush
Notable projects
After several smaller contracts at the Hudson Yards, Manhattan, site, in 2016 the company was awarded contracts worth roughly $1.2 billion for the construction of Tower D and The Shops & Restaurants retail complex at the development.
Corruption allegations
Tutor Perini has gained a reputation for low balling government contracts only to later increase prices at the expense of the taxpayer, along with other corrupt business practices: Since 2000 Tutor Perini has costed the state of California $765 million in additional unexpected costs on 11 different projects. This is mostly due to California law which requires the lowest bid to be selected. In 2002, after an expansion at San Francisco International Airport went over budget by $360 million, City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued Tutor Perini for fraud and attempted to have it banned from bidding on city projects. In March 2011, after a four-week trial a federal jury in Brooklyn found Zohrab B. Marashlian, the former president of Perini Corp.’s Civil Division, guilty of fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Tutor Perini had paid Marashlian $14 million during the investigation and trial. However Marashlian committed suicide Two days before he was to receive a prison sentence. A fellow employee is currently serving time in prison for the same case. In April 2018, Tutor Perini had deliberately substituted weaker rails than those specified in the San Francisco construction contract, so the city ordered Tutor Perini to rip out much of the steel track it had already laid down. The San Francisco Examiner reported that this is likely to delay the opening of the subway and that Tutor Perini may file additional claims to recoup their costs. Richard C. Blum, the husband of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, made large investments in Tutor Perini. Allegations of collusion between Feinstein and Blum assert that Feinstein used her government position to award contracts to companies Blum had invested in, which allowed the couple to personally profit from the deals.
