In 1973, CNL founder James M. Seneff, Jr. took a $5,000 loan from his father and began his own business by buying real estate in downtown Orlando for less than $3 a square foot. Forty years later, his investment has grown to become CNL Financial Group, one of the nation’s leading private investment management firms. Since its inception, CNL and/or its affiliates have formed or acquired companies with more than $33 billion in assets, and invested more than $15 billion in real estate assets.