Agree Realty

Realty Income Corporation was founded in 1969 by William E. Clark and Evelyn J. Clark. Its first acquisition was a Taco Bell restaurant in early 1970.The company used cash to purchase land needed for stores that required real estate to run, and then leased the property to the stores long term.In 1994, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.In 1997, William E. Clark, Jr., retired as CEO and was succeeded by Thomas A. Lewis. In 2013, John P. Case succeeded Mr. Lewis as CEO of the company. In 2009, Clark retired as chairman.In 2013, the company acquired American Realty Capital Trust, founded by Nicholas Schorsch, in a $2.95 billion transaction.In 2015, the company was added to the S&P 500 and the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats index.In 2018, Sumit Roy became the company's CEO.In 2019, the company completed a sale-leaseback transaction for 12 properties of the United Kingdom supermarket chain Sainsbury's. This was the company's first purchase of property outside the United States.On November 1, 2021, the company acquired VEREIT.