What is Public Storage?
Self-storage REIT with 3,300+ facilities serving about two million customers.
- Category
- Self-storage REIT
- Headquarters
- Glendale, CA
- Founded
- 1972
- Employees
- Approximately 6,000
- Total funding
- Public company; NYSE: PSA; no VC funding profile
- Status
- NYSE: PSA; public company
What is Public Storage?
Public Storage is a public self-storage reit headquartered in Glendale, CA. Its current public-company scale signal is 3,300+ facilities serving about two million customers.
Public Storage is a public self-storage reit headquartered in Glendale, CA. The company operates self-storage facilities, development pipeline, third-party management, and ancillary tenant services, and its latest public reporting shows 3,300+ facilities serving about two million customers. That makes it an enterprise-scale real estate account rather than a single-property operator.
The business serves tenants, residents, operators, carriers, consumers, or homebuyers through a mix of physical assets, digital leasing or sales channels, local operating teams, and centralized finance and technology functions. Its market position is shaped by asset quality, cost of capital, operating execution, tenant or customer retention, and disciplined capital allocation.
For B2B sellers, Public Storage should be mapped by business unit and asset workflow. The strongest opportunities attach to measurable outcomes: leasing velocity, occupancy, retention, construction cycle time, procurement savings, risk reduction, uptime, resident or customer experience, data quality, and compliance.
What does Public Storage offer?
Public Storage offers Self-storage rentals, Climate-controlled units, Drive-up storage, Business storage, Packing supplies and related real estate services.
- Self-storage rentals· Offering
- Climate-controlled units· Offering
- Drive-up storage· Offering
- Business storage· Offering
- Packing supplies· Offering
- Insurance and tenant products· Offering
- Third-party management· Offering
- Development· Offering
How does Public Storage make money?
Public Storage makes money through monthly self-storage rents, ancillary tenant products, insurance, late fees, development economics, and third-party management fees.
Public Storage makes money through monthly self-storage rents, ancillary tenant products, insurance, late fees, development economics, and third-party management fees. consumer prices vary by facility, unit size, climate control, move-in rate, occupancy, and local demand; Public Storage optimizes rent through dynamic pricing and revenue management. Because it is a public company, the most reliable unit-economic signals are revenue, NOI or gross margin, occupancy or closings, FFO/AFFO where relevant, backlog, leasing spreads, and capital allocation disclosures.
Growth is driven by pricing, volume, retention, development or acquisition spreads, cost of capital, operating efficiency, and the company's ability to deploy capital into assets or communities with durable demand. In a higher-rate environment, management quality and balance-sheet discipline matter as much as headline revenue growth.
For vendors, budget is usually unlocked when a product improves a metric the company already reports to investors: faster leasing, better resident or tenant experience, lower maintenance cost, more efficient construction, safer field operations, stronger cybersecurity, cleaner data, or better capital planning.
Who leads Public Storage?
Public Storage is led by Joe Russell, Chief Executive Officer, with finance, operations, investment, and technology leaders shaping major buying decisions.
- Joe RussellChief Executive OfficerCEO since 2019Leads self-storage operations, development, and capital allocation.
- Joe FisherPresident and Chief Financial OfficerAppointed President and CFO in February 2026Owns finance and corporate operating discipline.
- Natalia JohnsonChief Administrative OfficerSenior executive teamSupports enterprise administration, people, and corporate functions.
- Tom BoyleFormer CFO and senior leaderCFO through early 2026 transitionHelped lead balance sheet and investor communication before the Fisher appointment.
How do you contact Public Storage's leadership?
Public Storage publishes official investor, media, customer, or corporate contact routes, but the reviewed sources do not establish personal executive email addresses as the official way to reach leaders. Use the public company route here and treat any inferred personal address as unverified unless the company publishes it.
Personal executive email format not verified; use https://investors.publicstorage.com/investor-relations/default.aspx- Joe RussellChief Executive Officerhttps://investors.publicstorage.com/investor-relations/default.aspx
- Joe FisherPresident and Chief Financial Officerhttps://investors.publicstorage.com/investor-relations/default.aspx
- Investor relationsPublic-company investor contacthttps://investors.publicstorage.com/investor-relations/default.aspx
How much funding has Public Storage raised?
Public Storage is a public company (NYSE: PSA) and is not best described by venture funding raised.
Public Storage is a mature public company, not a venture-backed startup with seed, Series A, or late-stage private financing rounds. Its relevant capital profile is public equity, unsecured debt or mortgage debt, operating cash flow, asset sales, acquisitions, dividends, and share repurchases rather than VC funding.
The major capital milestones are: 1972 Founded (Public Storage begins operating self-storage properties.); 1980 Public listing era (The company scales through public real estate capital markets.); 1995 REIT conversion (Public Storage operates as a REIT focused on storage income.); 2006 Shurgard acquisition (A major acquisition expanded national and international self-storage scale.); 2025 3,300+ facility platform (Investor overview describes more than 3,300 facilities and about two million customers.); 2026 Leadership refresh (Joe Fisher appointed President and CFO.). As of June 2026, the most useful buyer signal is not a private valuation but 2025 public-company operating results across owned, developed, and managed self-storage facilities, NYSE: PSA, and the scale of its asset base and capital program.
For sellers, that means buying capacity exists but is governed by mature procurement, IT, legal, compliance, finance, and asset-level operating review. The winning case ties directly to revenue, occupancy, leasing, closings, maintenance, risk, uptime, data, or operating-cost metrics.
How did Public Storage get here?
Public Storage scaled through public-market capital, portfolio operations, and disciplined real estate or homebuilding execution.
- 1972Company foundedPublic Storage starts in Southern California.
- 1980sPublic-market expansionThe company grows through public capital and repeatable facility development.
- 2006Shurgard acquiredThe deal expands scale and brand reach.
- 2019Joe Russell becomes CEOLeadership focuses on operating modernization and scale.
- 2025Managed platform expandsThird-party management reaches hundreds of facilities.
- 2026President/CFO appointedJoe Fisher joins as President and CFO.
Who are Public Storage's competitors?
Public Storage competes with public and private operators that target the same property type, customer base, capital sources, and operating talent.
- Extra Space StorageLargest operator and third-party manager of self-storage properties
- CubeSmartPublic self-storage REIT with urban and suburban exposure
- U-HaulMoving and storage operator with large owned storage footprint
- National Storage AffiliatesSelf-storage REIT with PRO partner roots
- StorageMartPrivate self-storage owner and operator
Public Storage — frequently asked questions
