Paul Merage has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to the estimate for our annual OC’s Wealthiest list (story page 1, Special Report starts on page 41). The school that bears his name at UCI still doesn’t have a dean—and likely won’t for another year or so. Word has it that UCI has decided to start over and “raise the bar” on the search to replace Andy Policano at the Merage School. Recently arrived Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Howard Gillman will oversee the search … Some extra perspective from the Wealthiest list: Nearly a third of the 39 individuals on it have made or gotten to work on a second fortune, with some striking it rich on another venture in a familiar industry and others making good in entirely new areas …
That’s valuable context for Jane Yu’s front-page report on the effects of Prop 30, which took the state’s tax rate up by 3 percentage points on incomes of more than $1 million. More than a few of the folks dinged by the tax have hit their limit and decided to move out of state. Can’t say whether any of the members of this year’s OC’s Wealthiest are planning an exit, but their profiles suggest there’s a good chance that any such moves could cost the Golden State the benefits of a few next fortunes and the jobs and taxes that would go with them … Vinny Smith is working double time to provide a real-time example of that sort of serial entrepreneurism, as Chris Casacchia reports on page 1. Smith made his second fortune on the sale of Quest Software last year, and this year has his newly launched venture capital firm, Toba Capital, ramped and ready alongside real estate developer Integral Communities, which got recapitalized during the recession and is riding high on the rebound …
We did give Gov. Jerry Brown’s office a chance to weigh in on Prop 30, which led to some shuffling but little in the way of dynamic analysis. The governor’s office didn’t field the question, which was instead passed to the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, which apparently represents some degree of separation from the top. The result was a citation of a post on a real estate blog and an academic study that reviewed data from the 1% mental health tax that passed in 2005. Suffice it to say it remains to be seen how the dynamics of Prop 30 will play out …
Brown hasn’t said whether he’ll seek a second term, but he has about $10 million on hand if he decides to run next year. Apply Prop 30 to his campaign funds, and it would tack $300,000 onto his bill—somewhere around six times the amount any of his potential competitors has raised so far …
Igor Olenicoff had one of the more interesting first careers of anyone on the list, working as an accountant for Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. Reporter Mark Mueller reports that Olenicoff’s daughter, Natalia, recently reached back to her dad’s roots, bringing a “Motown Sound” band to help celebrate Olen Properties’ 40th anniversary at Andrei’s ….
The Insider notes that page 61 of this issue might be the only time you see Lynsi Torres, William Lyon and Ron Simon in the same place.
