After Hughes's death in 1976, most of the company's assets were sold off, and it focused on developing the master-planned community of Summerlin, Nevada.

Under the ownership of Howard Hughes, the company expanded over the years into various other businesses, including aviation, media, and casino hotels.

[2] The name "Summa", Latin for "highest", was allegedly chosen by several of Hughes's employees without consulting him first.

As its original businesses were sold, Summa recast itself as a real estate developer, using the vast tracts of undeveloped land Hughes had amassed around Las Vegas as a starting point.

[8] A new company named The Howard Hughes Corporation was spun off from GGP in 2010 and is now a developer of master-planned communities.