Atlanta real estate developer and philanthropist Tom Cousins dies

Vice President Joe Biden speaks with former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, left, and philanthropist Tom Cousins while visiting the East Lake Family YMCA, Tuesday, March 4, 2014, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

This story was updated on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at 3:51 p.m.

Atlanta real estate developer and philanthropist Tom Cousins has died, a source close to the family confirmed late Tuesday night. He was 93.

Cousins built a real estate empire in Atlanta. By the early 1960s, he was the largest homebuilder in Georgia. Later, he developed towers that shaped the Atlanta skyline like the Bank of America Plaza and brought the Hawks to town in 1968, the first NBA franchise in the Deep South.