The OC 50—our annual inventory of the most influential members of the local business community, and the subject of this week’s special issue—has always been deep. It’s never been wider than this year’s list, which includes representatives from every inhabited continent on earth, with nearly one in four members born outside the U.S. The presence of Brazilian-born Wing Lam added South America to the list, and we’re taking some geographic liberties in counting Europe as covered by a couple of execs who are actually islanders rather than continentals—U.K.-born David Pyott, and Jim McCluney, who hails from Ireland. Alain Monie and Paul Naude come from opposite ends of Africa—and both are Caucasian, by the way. At least six of this year’s members come from Asia, the biggest continental contributor outside of North America. David Sun, John Tu and William Wang combine to cover mainland China and Taiwan, while Paul Merage, Igor Olenicoff and Joe Kiani represent Iran. Then there’s Emile Haddad, who checks in from Lebanon to provide representation for Asia Minor. Greg Creed was born in Australia—and that covers the continents, with only Antartica missing from this year’s lineup …
The geographic breakdown says plenty about OC’s position as a growing center of business and academia on the Pacific Rim, which helps explain the links to Asia. Our temperate climate has long been a draw for new arrivals from Iran as well as South Africa and various North African countries. A few other factors—everything from population counts to political tumult that has led emigrants here over the course of decades—have helped the local business landscape to some extra leavening of talent from Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The three regions total 10 members on this year’s OC 50, while Europe and South America combine for three—although you could argue for four, depending on how you count Cuba, the birthplace of Alejandro Lopez …
The OC 50’s cosmopolitan flair is fun and no doubt valuable in all sorts of ways. But let’s not forget the homegrown members, who have come from all over the U.S. to make their marks on OC’s business landscape. Indeed, only two are Orange County natives, although California is the leading contributor among states, accounting from 15 members on this year’s list. The next biggest state is New York, with six. The Midwest is a major contributor when the list is viewed from a regional perspective, with 12 members, led by a contingent of four from Illinois. Eastern states combine for eight members, Western states besides California count three, and Arkansas is the lone representative of the South, with one member …
The geographic spread of this year’s list outpaces its ethnic or gender diversity. The number of women on this year’s list rose by one, to four, with female representation confined to education and healthcare, which seems a bit cliché. There is just one Latino-American on this year’s list despite the large presence of the ethnic group here, and no one from OC’s formidable Vietnamese-American community. We’ll continue to keep our eyes open and consider suggestions from readers as we work on next year’s OC 50.
