OC’s Wealthiest No.11-22
JANIE TSAO
Cofounder, vice president of business development, worldwide sales,
Cisco-Linksys LLC
VICTOR TSAO
Cofounder, general manager,
Cisco-Linksys LLC
Combined estimated worth: $600 million
Janie and Victor Tsao’s 2003 sale of Irvine-based Linksys Group Inc. to Cisco Systems Inc. paid off with a 25% gain in Cisco shares since the sale.
As a result, we’ve upped our estimate of the Tsaos to $600 million from $500 million last year, when they debuted on our list.
We arrived at our original figure last year by taking the number of shares Cisco issued at the close of the deal and multiplying by the stock price at the time.
We then subtracted 10% for stock options awarded to workers and allocated the balance to the Tsaos.
The Tsaos have continued to stay involved with Linksys. But they still avoid attending the same meetings together as part of a practice of splitting duties that dates back to the pre-Cisco days.
Linksys is thriving under Cisco. The company’s home networking unit sales in the first quarter surged 53% from a year earlier. Linksys holds more than half of the U.S. market for home networking gear.
Plus, Linksys is adding workers: OC employment grew 14% to 288 people in the past year.
Victor Tsao is traveling more now, logging trips to Europe and Asia. He and Janie recently set up Linksys Asia/Pacific operations in Singapore.
The Tsaos are humble, shying away from talk of their wealth. The couple lived in a modest house in Irvine for many years as they grew Linksys. Only when Linksys began to take off did the Tsaos splurge on a house in Newport Coast.
They live there with their two teenage sons, who shoot hoops with Victor Tsao.
The Tsaos built Linksys from the ground up. The couple left cushy computer jobs in 1988 to start the company out of their house. The original goal: to find a way to link more than one computer to a printer.
They’ve come a long way since then, creating a company that makes products that link entire computer networks together wirelessly.
,Andrew Simons
No. 11
PAUL MERAGE
Cofounder, former chief executive,
Chef America Inc.;
President, Merage Foundations
Estimated worth: $600 million
Paul Merage has made himself at home in Orange County.
Merage moved to Newport Beach after selling Colorado-based Chef America, maker of Hot Pockets and other frozen foods, to Nestl & #233; SA in 2002 for $2.6 billion. He manages his family’s investments and charitable doings from Irvine.
With wife Lilly, Merage started the Merage Foundation for the American Dream, which earlier this year gave $300,000 to 15 university students. Merage, a native of Iran, picked the students because they also are immigrants. They’ll receive $20,000 in the next two years.
Earlier this year, Merage helped the University of California, Irvine, land Andrew Policano as dean of the Graduate School of Management. UC salary and budget constraints kept UCI from matching compensation packages from competing schools looking to lure Policano, a former University of Wisconsin dean and accomplished fundraiser.
So Merage was part of a group led by venture capitalist Charles Martin that formed an independent research institute that Policano heads for extra money.
We’re estimating Merage’s wealth at $600 million. He could be worth more. Getting a read on how much he owned of Chef America isn’t easy. It’s believed he and brother David, Chef America’s other cofounder, owned most of the company.
The brothers came to the U.S. from Iran in the early 1960s. After graduating from University of California, Berkeley, with a master’s in business administration, Paul Merage went to work at Maxwell House, now part of Kraft Foods Inc., and later Hunt-Wesson, now part of ConAgra Foods Inc.
He teamed up with his brother in 1977 to start Chef America in Chatsworth. Paul Merage took out three mortgages on his Encino home and borrowed money from relatives, according to the Wall Street Journal. The brothers first sold frozen Belgian waffles to schools and coffee shops.
The proliferation of microwaves led them to develop frozen snacks that could be made in minutes. Other trends helped propel Hot Pockets: more women at work, people eating on the run and “grazers” eating throughout the day instead of sitting down for meals.
The first offerings,pepperoni pizza and ham and cheddar Hot Pockets,were sold in convenience stores. They hit grocery stores in 1994. Since then, there have been low-calorie, Mexican and breakfast versions of the calzone-style sandwich.
Today, Hot Pockets are an American staple like macaroni and cheese. The products’ prevalence in supermarkets and home freezers caught Nestl & #233;’s eye. The Swiss consumer products company had looked at buying Chef America as early as a decade ago.
A few years back, Chef America put itself up for sale but the Merage brothers balked at offers of about $1.5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
,Michael Lyster
No. 11
DAVID SUN
Cofounder, chief operating officer,
Kingston Technology Co.
Estimated worth: $600 million
No. 11
JOHN TU
Cofounder, president,
Kingston Technology Co.
Estimated worth: $600 million
The Kingston duo is a little richer thanks to a resurgence in computer memory products.
David Sun and John Tu run Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Co., one of the largest makers of computer memory products.
After two years of declining business and squeezed profits during the downturn, Kingston has taken a turn for the better. Last year, sales grew 10% to $1.8 billion.
But don’t look for these guys in suits and ties behind big mahogany desks. Both men sit in cubicles with the rest of Kingston’s workers and shun ties. Sun takes smoke breaks with workers and is known to bring his golf clubs to work to practice at the driving range at Kingston’s headquarters. Tu is an avid joke teller and drummer who practices with his band, John Tu’s California Dreaming, at Kingston.
The two made their fortunes after building up Kingston and selling 80% of it to Japan’s Softbank Corp. for $1.5 billion in 1996. They bought it back for a fraction of what they were paid three years later.
Like many of OC’s richest, both men shy away from the public eye. Sun is known to eschew interviews and once stood up a Forbes writer. Tu is a little more open but still keeps a low profile.
The two made headlines when they handed out $100 million in bonuses to workers after selling the company to Softbank.
They’ve bet big on China,they bought land for a new Shanghai plant last year, which will stand to boost production there from 18 million memory boards a year to 60 million. They’ve also shifted some work from OC to China, but still employ 950 people here.
Earlier this year, they paid $4 million to buy out China Great Wall Computer Shenzhen, which had a 20% stake in the Shanghai operation.
The two made global news earlier this year when they donated $4.6 million to bankroll a recount of votes in Taiwan’s contentious presidential election. They said the donation was aimed at stopping political fighting over the close vote.
Both men are on their second fortunes, having founded memory products maker Camintonn in the 1980s and selling it to now-defunct AST Research Inc. They left AST to start Kingston after losing millions in Camintonn proceeds in the stock market crash.
Sun and Tu have electrical engineering degrees,Tu from Technische Hochschule Darmstadt in Germany, Sun from Taiwan’s Ta-Tung Institute of Technology. Tu, originally from China, moved to the U.S. in 1972. Sun, who was born in Taiwan, came in 1977.
,Andrew Simons
No. 15
Anthony Maglica
Owner, founder, president,
Mag Instrument Inc.
Estimated worth: $500 million
Anthony Maglica got his riches by industrious hard work.
His flashlight company, Ontario-based Mag Instrument Inc., is like his child, said Maglica, pronounced “Mag-lee-cuh.” At 73, he said he still puts in 18-hour days. He gets up at 4 a.m., works at his Anaheim Hills home a bit and arrives at Mag a couple of hours later. He said he hasn’t had a vacation in 14 years and he’s got no time for superfluous activities.
“I don’t watch TV,” Maglica said.
For Maglica, de-signing new products is a creative outlet.
“It’s fun doing it,” he said.
Maglite flashlights, known for their durability, have appeared in movies, TV and books and are a staple of police officers and everyday folks.
Maglica said he’s a believer in making his products in the U.S. and keeping jobs in Southern California. And his flashlight empire is set to get bigger next year. Mag is expected to add 705,000 square feet of production space in Ontario. Maglica’s new plant is expected to create 400
jobs.
Mag counts 1,000 workers in Ontario.
“I could make more money,” he said, by moving production to China.
Profits could be 10 times what they now are, he said.
“But what am I going to do with more money?” he said. “What will happen to these people here? What kind of human being would I be?”
If Mag were public, Maglica said he’d probably be fired. But Mag has no plans to go public, he said.
Selling the company isn’t an option either, even though Maglica said he’s had offers.
To stay here, “you have to automate” and settle for less profit, Maglica said.
Still, Maglica said he’s worried about China. The U.S. can’t compete with labor there, he said.
Two of Maglica’s sons work at Mag. One works in research and development and the other is an all around businessman, he said. They are the likely candidates to take over, he said.
Mag’s products have spawned plenty of imitators and hundreds of lawsuits. His company constantly is defending its patents and trademarks. In a recent interview, Maglica said his lead attorney is like a brother.
In 2003, the company won a $113,000 judgment against Japan’s Asahi Electric Corp., which made cheaper flashlights that looked like Mag’s.
In 2002, Maglica was awarded $1.2 million from brothers Stephen and Christopher Halasz and their Bison Sportslights LLC in Englewood, Colo. They are the sons of Maglica’s former common law wife, Clarie Halasz, who waged a bitter palimony case against him in the 1990s.
By the end of the court fight with Clarie Halasz, Mag had gone from $400 million to $750 million in valuation, according to Maglica’s attorney. We’re conservatively estimating Maglica at $500 million, allowing room for any debt, minority ownership and his palimony settlement.
Mag plans to debut products next year, said Maglica, who didn’t want to offer any hints.
“I can’t say,” he said. “It’s going to change the flashlight business.”
Born in New York during the Great Depression, Maglica was raised in his mother’s native Croatia. He was a small child when his mother returned to Zlarin Island, where she had family.
After a return visit to Zlarin, in 2000, Maglica enlisted in Cal State Polytechnic University, Pomona, to develop a plan for the island that would bring the people back and boost the economy. The plan includes a new town center with sewers, a five-star hotel, modern shopping and a movie theater. That project is ongoing, he said.
As a young man, Maglica returned to New York, though he spoke no English. Most of his training came while working as an experimental machinist.
He then moved to Denver for a few years and was lured to California when he was told that he didn’t need warm clothes and he could make $3 an hour, Maglica recently said in an interview with Screw Machine World, a trade publication.
By 1955, he managed to save $125 to buy a lathe and start his own machine tool business. Maglica made precision parts for aerospace and defense contractors, earning a reputation for quality. The company’s trademark flashlight was introduced in 1979.
In 1993, Maglica rescued a blinded boy, his mother and sister from the war zone in Bosnia. Last year, Mag gave $250,000 to the Red Cross and will donate another $250,000 this year.
,Sherri Cruz
No. 15
HOWARD AHMANSON JR.
Heir, philanthropist
Estimated worth: $500 million
Howard Ahmanson is a rich man with a cause.
The heir to the Home Savings & Loan fortune has emerged as a prominent opponent to the Anglican Church’s appointing of gay bishops and acceptance of same-sex marriages.
The effort is the latest in a long line of moves advancing conservative, Christian ideals by Ahmanson, who lives in Newport Beach with wife Roberta.
You could say it’s Ahmanson’s life work.
A self-described trust fund baby, Ahmanson runs several foundations from Irvine. He’s backed President Bush as well as conservative politicians in Orange County and elsewhere. He’s supported the Claremont Institute and has paid to send inner city kids to bible school.
His father, Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson Sr., got his start foreclosing on properties during the Depression. He bought Home Savings in 1947 for $162,000.
By the time the elder Ahmanson died, the thrift had assets of $2.5 billion. He spent much of his later years as a philanthropist, creating the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles and the Ahmanson Gallery of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
When Ahmanson died, his estate was split between the Ahmanson Foundation and Howard Ahmanson Jr. Today, the foundation has assets of some $700 million. We’ve based our estimate of Howard Ahmanson Jr.’s wealth on that, and factored in money he’s given away.
Even so, our figure probably is conservative. Ahmanson had money before his father died and also inherited wealth from his late mother.
Ahmanson has been described as reclusive, a behind-the-scenes activist. Above all, he’s devoutly religious. His politics are a mix of fundamental conservativism and libertarianism. He’s said to oppose government social programs and advocate personal responsibility and free enterprise.
His philosophy draws on the writings of Christian theologian C.S. Lewis and 16th century reformer John Calvin. He’s also said to identify with some, but not all, of the teachings of the late Rev. Rousas John Rushdoony. The father of the Christian Reconstructionists movement envisioned a society based on biblical laws.
Ahmanson is a big donor to American Anglican Council based in Washington, D.C. The group is leading the charge against the church’s shifting stance on gay issues. The council’s chief executive, David C. Anderson, ran St. James Episcopal Church in Newport Beach where Ahmanson worships.
Stories about Ahmanson describe him as a reluctant multimillionaire. Earlier in his life, he lived on $1,200 a month, drove a banged-up Datsun pickup truck and wore used flannel shirts, according to a 1996 Orange County Register story. He even toured Europe like a hippie in his younger days.
Later in his life, Ahmanson camped out in Africa to learn about the needs of the poor and visited rural Indonesia to promote free enterprise.
,Michael Lyster
No. 15
William Lyon
Chairman, chief executive,
William Lyon Homes Inc.
Estimated worth: $500 million
William Lyon’s wealth has surged along with the stock price of the homebuilding company that bears his name, William Lyon Homes Inc.
In the past year, shares in William Lyons Homes have more than doubled, counting a recent market value of $750 million.
Lyon, a former Air Force major general, owns 5.4 million shares, including those in a trust fund. That stake alone is worth $400 million.
That was good enough to bring Lyon back to our listing. He appeared on our 2002 list and last year was included in our “Other Centimillionaires” group.
The bulk of our estimate is based on Lyon’s shares in William Lyon Homes. We’ve added $100 million to that as a conservative approximation of what Lyon’s other holdings are worth.
Lyon, one of the county’s real estate titans, also owns a majority stake in William Lyon Property Management, which owns or manages 10,000 apartments.
Add to that Martin Aviation, which provides service to private and corporate jets at John Wayne Airport, as well as a collection of antique cars.
Lyon loves classic cars and has built up an impressive and valuable collection. He owns 95 classic and antique cars, including 10 Duesenbergs. Only 480 Duesenbergs were made.
And Lyon lives like one of Orange County’s wealthiest in a mansion on 130 acres in Coto de Caza.
To be sure, things haven’t always been so good for a man who has spent five decades in real estate. He fell on hard times after the 1980s market crash, with lenders taking virtually all the assets of his William Lyon Co.
Back then, he was chairman of another homebuilder, Presley Cos., which was burdened by large debt and held Inland Empire land worth less than when it was bought for.
In 1999, Lyon engineered Presley’s acquisition of William Lyon Homes for $48 million. Presley was renamed William Lyon Homes Inc.
The acquisition boosted the company’s financial position and added valuable
OC land to its portfolio, while it retained tax credits based on Presley’s years
of losses.
The new company entered into a series of joint ventures in California, particularly for high-priced homes. In some cases, Lyon only put up token equity in the deals.
Lyon has partnered several times through the years with advisers to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System as well as others.
In OC, William Lyon Homes has teamed with Miami-based Lennar Corp. to build a mix of homes on three parcels at the former Tustin Marine base.
,Mathew Padilla
No. 18
WILLIAM GROSS
Cofounder, chief investment officer,
managing director,
Pacific Investment Management Co.
Estimated worth: $400 million
The bond boom has run its course, but it hasn’t impacted the wealth of Bill Gross.
We’re keeping our estimate of the so-called king of bonds at $400 million, a fortune he got when German insurer Allianz AG bought Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. for $3.3 billion in 2000.
At the time, Gross had a Pimco stake of more than 10%, according to sources. That alone would have been worth about $360 million.
After Allianz bought the company, it offered Gross a $200 million, five-year deal to stay on. Add to that dividend payments Gross received before Pimco was sold,he is said to have received $1 million every quarter,and we feel safe with our number for a man who’s been called the best paid bond manager in the world.
As chief investment officer, Gross manages nearly $450 billion in assets, including the $73 billion Pimco Total Return Fund, which got a big boost during the stock slump at the start of the decade.
Gross has come a long way since the day three decades ago when he put a card on a bulletin board at a Mission Viejo Albertsons offering to manage money.
Gross was a leader in the formation of Pimco Advisors in 1994, which spun off from Pacific Mutual Life Insurance (now Pacific Life Insurance Co.) Today, it is the world’s largest bond fund manager.
He’s a marquee commentator on bonds and other matters, doing television feeds from Pimco’s own broadcast facility in Newport Center. In person, he’s soft-spoken, even humble.
From a Mediterranean-style home atop a Laguna Beach cliff, Gross starts nearly every day by checking global markets. At the office, he’s a slave to his routine, turning on his desktop computer monitors in the same order each day. He breaks each day for yoga and golf practice.
His online commentaries about the markets and the economy are well-read.
Last year, the Vietnam veteran and self-described “Orange County Republican” came out against invading Iraq, saying an attack “may lessen our vulnerability but lose a piece of our soul.”
Gross also bought some of California’s recovery bonds that are a central part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bid to right the state’s finances.
2004 started rough for Gross and Pimco with a New Jersey fraud case and class-action suits amid an industrywide mutual fund trading scandal. Pimco’s bond operations were cleared of wrongdoing in the New Jersey case in June. An Allianz stock fund business paid $18 million to settle charges.
Gross earned his bachelor’s from Duke University and his master’s in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. He and his wife are philanthropists, giving $100,000 annually to OC Teachers of the Year.
,Andrew Simons
No. 18
Joan Irvine Smith
Heiress to James Irvine
Estimated worth: $400 million
Joan Irvine Smith lost her fight to keep Gov. Gray Davis in office but appears
willing to work with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
An environmentalist, Smith told a Los Angeles Times reporter that she believes Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is concerned about issues dear to her.
“I really do think Arnold is an environmentalist at heart,” she said. “I just hope he will be able to stick to the program, the one he has championed.”
Smith’s grandfather, James Irvine II, started The Irvine Company. Her great-grandfather, land baron James Irvine I, made his wealth in the California Gold Rush and assembled 120,000 acres of what now is OC.
Based on input from sources, we’re putting Smith’s estimated worth at $400 million. Smith herself once was a dissident on the Irvine Co. board. Her lawyers fought for eight years over how much current owner Donald Bren should pay Smith and her now-deceased mom, Athalie Clarke, for their stakes in the company.
Smith and Bren settled on $256 million in 1991 and have remained cordial since then. In late 2001, the two found some common ground: 11,000 acres of permanent open space set aside by Bren.
“My grandfather would be so very, very pleased,” Smith said at the land dedication hosted by Bren.
While at the Irvine Co., Smith said she backed efforts to donate 1,000 acres of land to the University of California for UC Irvine and to create a masterplan for the Irvine Ranch.
Smith has emerged as a force when it comes to development and environmental issues. After the settlement, she said she and her mother started the National Water Research Institute to find new sources of water and to protect lakes, rivers and oceans.
She played a big role in backing the Crystal Cove Alliance, which scuttled plans for pricey new cottages at Crystal Cove State Park. The cottages are being restored to preserve their original look and are expected to open in 2005.
She opposed a proposal to extend the Foothill (241) Toll Road through undeveloped hillsides to San Clemente, near Smith’s horse estate.
And she worked with environmental groups to urge the Orange County Sanitation District to implement secondary treatment standards on wastewater.
Known for her philanthropic endeavors, Smith has given millions to various local charities, including the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at the University of California, Irvine.
Smith also is an avid art collector and noted horsewoman. Smith has bred, sold and showed world-class horses at her farms in San Juan Capistrano and Virginia. She turned over management of her two horse shows to R.J. Brandes, chief executive of Blenheim EquiSports of California LLC.
She once was married to the late Morton “Cappy” Smith, a competitive horseman.
Smith has co-authored two art books on California history: “California, This Golden Land of Promise” and “Reflections of California.” She and her mother founded the Irvine Museum in 1992.
,Sherri Cruz
No. 18
VINCENT SMITH
Chairman, chief executive,
Quest Software Inc.
Estimated worth: $400 million
It’s all quiet on the Western front for Vincent “Vinny” Smith, chief executive of Irvine-based Quest Software.
Despite a round of software industry consolidation last year and rumors that Quest might get bought, Smith kept the company under his wing. At the time, Wall Street estimated that the database management software company could fetch as much as a 30% premium to its $1 billion market value.
We’ve valued Smith at $400 million based on his Quest shares, past stock sales and other investments. That’s unchanged from last year, even though Smith was a little richer earlier this year. Like other software makers, Quest’s shares have been hit on Wall Street of late, falling 25% since April.
Smith became a multimillionaire,and, for a while, a billionaire,after Quest went public in 1999.
Known as a savvy investor, Smith says he likes to dabble in a variety of investments, such as the stake he took in Fusion International, a local surfwear venture.
Smith also has various real estate holdings and owns part of at least 20 restaurants, among other ventures.
“If I like a company, I’ll buy a 10% to 25% stake,” he said.
Before joining Quest, Smith made an initial fortune by helping to start Patrol Software, which BMC Software Inc. bought in 1994. He went on to serve as BMC’s director of open systems, managing sales operations.
From 1987 to 1992, Smith worked at Oracle Corp. in sales management positions.
In 1997, a semi-retired Smith grew bored with the Colorado ski slopes and came on to replace Quest cofounder David Doyle as chief executive. In 2000, he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Smith is the quintessential tech executive: casual, outgoing, athletic. He’s said to regularly come to Quest’s Irvine Spectrum tower headquarters in jeans, a T-shirt and a cap. Quest is in the process of moving from Irvine to Aliso Viejo.
,Andrew Simons
No. 21
MICHAEL HARRAH
Owner, president,
Caribou Industries Inc.
Estimated worth: $350 million
Michael Harrah’s Santa Ana real estate holdings have made him a fixture on our “Other Centimillionaires” group for the past two years.
This year, we’ve decided to bump Harrah up to our main list based on a re-evaluation of his holdings and input from his company. The real estate developer is more open these days with all the attention he’s gotten with his plan to build a 37-story office tower in downtown Santa Ana. It would be the county’s largest.
Harrah owns 2.9 million square feet of downtown Santa Ana, civic center real estate, a figure that’s up about 40% in the past year. His buildings are 95% leased, he said. Based on market rates, the portfolio is worth more than $400 million.
Factoring in debt and other real estate Harrah owns in Arizona, Wyoming and Hawaii, we’ve come up with a $350 million estimate for him.
The Santa Ana tower is a variable.
We’ve afforded Harrah some,but not all,the value for the recently approved project, dubbed One Broadway. We could up Harrah’s estimate next year if he moves forward on the project and lands tenants for the 518,000-square-foot building, which could be completed by early 2006.
Harrah said he’s close to signing two big-name tenants, a software maker and a telecommunications company. Law firms also are being courted.
In the past decade, Harrah single-handedly has redeveloped much of Santa Ana, painstakingly restoring historic buildings. He’s loved and hated in the city. Supporters call him a savior. Critics say he’s changing downtown for the worse with his tower.
His Caribou Industries Inc. develops, builds and manages properties, doing about $40 million a year in revenue.
Harrah is something of an eccentric. He sports a ZZ Top beard and stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall, weighing 280 pounds. He has piloted his Cobra helicopter in aerial stunts in “Austin Powers: Gold Member,” “The Hulk” and “The Siege.” He’s one of 600 deputized reserves for Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona. He’s pledged his helicopter services to the county in case of a terrorist attack or other disaster.
By age 25, Harrah made a small fortune building apartments in Riverside. He went on to develop a Lake Havasu resort, shopping centers, hotels, golf courses, condominiums and other projects, earning him millions.
Another Havasu deal pushed Harrah to bankruptcy in 1990. He had to rent a room from his mother-in-law in Garden Grove to get by. He emerged from bankruptcy and turned to Santa Ana at a time when others had left the city for dead.
These days, Harrah owns homes on Newport Beach’s exclusive harbor islands. He’s a supporter of the Orange County High School of the Arts, where he’s given nearly $2 million and built the school’s campus. He also supports the Boys and Girls Club.
,Mathew Padilla
No. 22
DUANE ROBERTS
Chairman, chief executive,
Entrepreneurial Corporate Group
Estimated worth: $250 million
Duane Roberts is rich and politically connected.
Last month, Roberts hosted Vice President Dick Cheney at his stately Mission Inn in Riverside. Cheney was on hand to raise money for Republican Senate candidate Bill Jones, who’s waging an uphill battle to defeat Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Roberts, who made a fortune in frozen burritos, real estate and banking, has been an active GOP fundraiser. He’s known as a “bundler”,a rainmaker who brings together other wealthy political donors. Roberts and other bundlers, the elite of which are known as Bush Rangers, are a key part of the president’s fundraising strategy.
Politics is a big part of Roberts’ activities these days. He lives in Laguna Beach but still is actively involved in Inland Empire politics and Riverside issues.
Roberts bought the landmark 239-room Mission Inn in 1992 for $16 million and saved it from possible ruin.
As a child, the man now known as “keeper of the inn” went with his parents to parties and other events at the Mission Inn where he explored the castle-like hotel’s brick hallways.
“There are some businesses that are very profitable, and money is what drives you to do it,” Roberts said. “And there are other things that you get personal enjoyment from and are fun to do.”
Last year, the Riverside native was given the Frank Miller Civic Achievement Award at the Historic Riverside County Courthouse. The award is named for Frank Miller, Mission Inn’s developer.
The Inland Empire figures large in Roberts’ background,and in much of his business interests. Roberts’ family ties to Riverside go back more than 50 years.
In 1950, his father, Harry Roberts, founded Butcher Boy Food Products Inc., a meat company that was the main supplier of hamburger patties to the original McDonald’s in San Bernardino. While working at Butcher Boy, 19-year-old Roberts came up with what he bills as the first frozen burrito.
At 27, Roberts became president and built Butcher Boy from one plant with 60 workers and $3 million in yearly sales to six plants with 1,400 workers.
By the time the family sold the business to Central Soya Inc. in 1980, Butcher Boy had an estimated $85 million in yearly sales.
Roberts stayed on as chairman of the company for about two years after the sale. The company later became part of Tyson Foods Inc. and recently was sold to a private equity group.
He later went on to sell another burrito company, Fernando’s Foods, to ConAgra Foods Inc. in the late 1990s for about $35 million in ConAgra stock.
Roberts took his Mexican food fortune and branched out into real estate, as well as banking and other investments.
He was a majority shareholder in Moreno Valley-based Cal-West National Bank, which was sold in 1993 to Overland Bank of Temecula.
The bank’s successor, First Pacific National Bank, in which Roberts was the largest shareholder, later was bought by Zions Bancorp.
In the early 1980s, Roberts founded DRR Investments, which later became Entrepreneurial Capital, an investment arm of Entrepreneurial Corporate Group.
In 2001, Entrepreneurial Capital kicked in $2 million in funding to help start Corona del Mar-based Miramar Venture Partners, the venture firm started by Bruce Hallett and others.
Roberts’ other interests include two companies that own 13,500 apartments in the Southwest, and Entrepreneurial Foods Group LLC, which owns four British food makers.
Roberts has been active in the Republican Party for about 20 years and has been a top contributor to GOP campaigns.
He was among 250 contributors dubbed “Regents” who gave at least $100,000 in support of President Bush and other Republican candidates during the 2000 election. In the past decade, he’s given $1.5 million to Republicans.
Roberts also is involved in Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused Children, the Anaheim-based nonprofit for abused and neglected children. He started the group’s Inland Empire branch.
,Michael Lyster
No. 22
Robert Hoff
General partner,
Crosspoint Venture Partners
Estimated worth: $250 million
We’ve reconsidered the wealth of Bob Hoff, Orange County’s richest venture capitalist.
After appearing on our 2002 list, we moved Hoff to our “Other Centimillionaires” roster last year because of uncertainty about his wealth.
We’re still unsure how much Hoff is worth. But based on our own number crunching, we think $250 million is a safe bet. Some sources have told us he could be worth a lot more.
Hoff is a general partner at Woodside-based Crosspoint Venture Partners and manager of its Irvine office. He recently led an investment in San Diego chipmaker Tarari Inc. after a long hiatus from the venture game.
If Tarari ends up like Hoff’s other bets, it could be in for some good returns. Hoff, known for highly calculated, aggressive bets, has invested in more than 65 startups in his career.
Some of Hoff’s hits include Innovent Systems (acquired by Broadcom Corp.), IPivot, (bought by Intel Corp.) and PairGain Technologies (bought by ADC Telecommunications Inc.). Misses include now defunct Internet consultant marchFirst.
After making his fortune, Hoff is semi-retired. He always schedules his calendar around family events. He’s played an active role in his daughter’s soccer team. He’s said to support coworkers and has encouraged employees, including administrative staff, to participate in Crosspoint’s funds.
In 2002, Hoff celebrated his 50th birthday by renting out the Crazy Horse Steakhouse & Saloon in Irvine and hiring Creedence Clearwater Revisited to play.
Hoff also is a philanthropist: He’s helped raise $4 million for the Get a Grip Foundation, a nonprofit group in Irvine that teaches golf to kids, as an allegory for “life skills.”
In late 2000, he and wife Ann gave $15,000 to VenturePAC, a political action committee that lobbies on behalf of companies that venture capitalists support.
Along with Duane Roberts, Hoff is an investor in Corona del Mar-based Miramar Venture Partners.
In 2001, Forbes magazine ranked Crosspoint No. 1 in the country in terms of overall distributed returns to its limited partners. Investors who had placed $1 with Crosspoint in 1996 got back $29 by 2001. This was after fees and profit-sharing by general partners such as Hoff. Venture capitalist firms such as Crosspoint normally charge 2% fees for managing money and take 20% of the profits.
,Andrew Simons
