Abbott Medical Optics President Jim Mazzo is one of several prominent executives in OC who are getting ready to retire, including a number mentioned in our 2012 Year in Review, starting on the front page. Mazzo plans to stay busy as chair of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at UCI (see related story, page 1) as he fights a civil case on insider trading connected to the sale of Advanced Medical Optics, where he was CEO before Abbott bought the company in 2009. Mazzo formally denied all charges last week, and asked for a jury trial. That came about the same time former big-league ballplayer Doug DeCinces—who settled a civil suit for insider trading on the Advanced Medical deal for $2.5 million last year—was indicted on criminal charges. Mazzo and DeCinces are neighbors in Laguna Beach and said to have been chummy. Less attention has been paid to three others who were indicted on criminal charges along with DeCinces last week, including local lawyer Fred Scott Jackson. Then there’s a recent piece in BusinessWeek, which reports that an attorney made trades based on information he overheard from his daughter, who is also an attorney and made a holiday visit home at the time she was working on the Advanced-Abbott deal …
Holidays can bring on strange behavior. Just ask Judy Rosener, who says she’s been happily married for 61 years and is tired of cooking. That didn’t stop her from hosting 40 for Thanksgiving … Rosener has made a career out of understanding the differences between the genders, so she’ll appreciate this one: The new Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University will have three times as much restroom space for women compared with men. The ladies can thank donor Marybelle Musco Center for the top billing between acts …
Newly minted contrarian newspaper owner Aaron Kushner told scribes at an OC Press Club event at Mesa Lounge that he doesn’t factor a return to glory-day operating margins of 20% to 25% as he adds new hires at the Register. His economics training at Stanford tells him 10% is a reasonable expectation. Kushner didn’t tip his hand on the sale of the Colorado Springs Gazette, which came a few days after his talk (see related Addendum item, page 28). He did say his Trust 2100 is serious about making a bid for the LA Times and has retained Morgan Stanley. He also acknowledged that Rupert Murdoch would likely be the lead horse if he decides to make a run at the Times …
Ed Fuller doesn’t spend a lot of time at his desk—what else to expect from the guy who wrote a book called You Can’t Lead With Your Feet on the Desk. The former head of Marriott’s international business does occasionally take a seat at the offices of his newly launched Laguna Street Advisors, high above Bistango. And like a true hotel veteran, he makes sure his guests are comfortable, offering them a pleasingly stuffed wingback chair with rich leather upholstery in a shade of blue that seems to go with everything. It’s a second-hand item that had been in Fuller’s office at Marriott for years. He liked it enough to negotiate for it as part of his retirement package, a deal obviously done with mutual respect: The company held firm at $10, and Fuller went into his wallet for the chair …
An item on Nov. 19 incorrectly reported that Vinny Smith gave $1 million to Newport Beach-based Gen Next. The gift went to Gen Next Foundation, which supports Gen Next.