Born George Mathew Moutsanas in 1941 in Limni, Evia, Greece and emigrated to the United States in 1945. He graduated as George M. Marcus from San Francisco State University with a B.A. degree in Economics. He founded G.M. Marcus & Company, which later evolved into Marcus & Millichap Company, where he still serves as Chairman. Mr. Marcus also founded and serves as Chairman of Essex Property Trust (ESS) and Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (MMI), two publicly traded companies.

Mr. Marcus received the high Offikion of Archon Exarchos in 1991 by His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York.

His commitments to his community include memberships on the Board of Directors at the Modern Greek Studies Foundation, CSU Foundation, UCSF Foundation, Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, International Orthodox Christian Charities, Elios Society of Northern California, Leadership 100, and founder and Chairman of the National Hellenic Society. Other notable activities include involvement with United Religions Initiative, The Hellenic Initiative, and the Advisory Board of the Washington Oxi Day Foundation. Mr. Marcus is also the majority owner of two renowned Greek restaurants: Kokkari located in San Francisco, CA and Evvia located in Palo Alto, CA.