Editor’s Note: Richard “Dick” Pickup, who donated more than $65 million to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in recent years, is one of the OC50: The Giving 50, highlighting notable local donors and philanthropic leaders, in this edition of the Business Journal. During a lunch at his family-owned Newport Beach Country Club with Executive Editor Peter J. Brennan to discuss his Leader Board for this issue, Dick suffered a stroke and died later that night (see the Business Journal’s May 6 print edition). In his honor, the Business Journal is presenting his Leader Board based on two interviews, his obituary and with finishing touches from his family. He is honored in memoriam on page 52.
My brother Rodney died about seven years ago from dementia, which is a horrible disease.
The last month or two were so devastating. It seems like the medical industry has made so many strives in researching other problems like cancer and heart disease. The brain is the last frontier.
It’s a key reason that I donated $50 million to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian to establish the Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health. It follows a $15 million gift in 2017 for the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute, which will host the brain center.
Why do I donate?
At the dedication of the Pickup Family Neurosciences Center at Hoag in 2019, I told the audience how I heard my pastor, Dr. Huffman, say:
“Don’t just give until it hurts; instead, give until it feels good.”
It took me some time to really get with this program. But now in the last two decades, I have learned the reality of what it means to be blessed and to be a blessing to others.
Let me assure you that these donations to Hoag feel good to me. What we are now doing for others is the highest form of investment I have ever made and is the best money I have ever invested. I know that this will continue to bear rich dividends for others long after I am no longer here.
The Whittier Kid
In 1934, I was born in Whittier where my father worked for the Southern California Gas Co. It’s the old story of growing up in a small town where I grabbed the opportunity given to me by this great country.
I played a lot of sports, including basketball and as defensive back on my high school football team. As a kid, I always tried to figure out how businesses work.
I went to Whittier College where I majored in economics and business. Our 1955 commencement speaker was Richard Nixon, who at that time was the vice president.
In those days, everybody got drafted into the military. I had a choice to go into the Army as an officer, which would require four years, or as a buck private, which required only two.
I chose the latter because I was anxious to get going with my professional life. When I was in the service, I took classes on the stock market.
When I was in college, I thought I could handicap horse racing and when I couldn’t do that, I then went to Las Vegas and lost enough. I woke up to the fact that if I was ever going to be somebody, I’d better start specializing.
I became a stockbroker in the late 1950s in Los Angeles, working with senior guys who went through the Great Depression. I realized early on that to make any meaningful amount of money, it wouldn’t be by making individual commissions.
I built deep knowledge around small and midsize companies, initially in the oil and gas industries. I would analyze a company, so I knew it inside and out. I developed a clientele on that basis—you make your money by telling stories about companies. In the 1960s, I moved to Newport Beach.
My time in Las Vegas wasn’t all a loss because I came to understand the gambling industry. While guys would bet on rolling dice, their wives would be at the slot machines. I discovered International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT), which made slot machines.
At first, the gambling business was only in Las Vegas and Reno and then Atlantic City and then indigenous tribe casinos. It soon exploded. Then states began legalizing lotteries where IGT was the market leader. IGT became a grand slam for me.
Instead of having a lot of individual stocks, I’d concentrate on 10 stocks, which I would hold for 20 to 30 years. I would own 5% to 50% of these companies. In that era, you got to know the executive team better. You felt very comfortable when you put your own money into it.
My investment style was like Warren Buffett’s—buy value at a deep discount. Warren was my mentor—I’d go to his annual meetings in Omaha. He’s such a talented man who made great investments in insurance companies that served as his profit centers. Warren taught me don’t follow the herd. Do the exact opposite.
Over the years, I got into restaurant business like Carl’s Jr., where I helped founder Carl Karcher. I’m accumulating Denny’s, which is hitting new lows. It has a simple capitalization, and the play is real estate. Someone is going to buy it out.
I don’t think I’ve bought a bond in my life. I’d rather own an operating company. Half of my portfolio is dividend-paying stocks. I like a company that buys its stock back.
I still own IGT—there must be more upside!
Real Estate Play
About 20 years ago, I began dabbling in real estate and have helped my son, Todd and son-in-law, Kevin Martin, who co-founded Eagle Four Partners, a Newport Beach-based private equity group specializing in strategic hospitality, golf, lifestyle residential and sports entertainment investments.
We own 12 hotels, including the Pendry Newport Beach and VEA Newport Beach, alongside our Ritz-Carlton Residences Newport Beach currently in development.
About 12 years ago, my family bought the Balboa Bay Club, which I believe could enjoy better stewardship. We also bought the Newport Beach Country Club where we tore the old clubhouse down and built a fabulous clubhouse in 2016.
I’m 90 years old and show up at 6:30 at our family office and try to pick the right stock at the right time. I must know the company inside and out to possibly sell it to others. I still like to read the Wall Street Journal and watch the close of the market on CNBC. I love golf, where I used to play to a 7 handicap.
Above all, I’ve come to learn the importance of donations. It’s a new experience for me to get so much attention. I’m not a guy who gets up and gives speeches.
The Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag provides care for patients with specific conditions of the brain and spine such as stroke, aneurysms and brain tumors. Hoag is making great strides in the understanding of brain health and Alzheimer’s disease.
They are on the cutting edge, but there is still so much that is unknown about the brain.
I hope my philanthropic initiatives have instilled in my children and grandchildren the same charitable zeal, leaving a legacy of giving and helping others for generations to come.
To make an online donation, please visit www.hoaghospitalfoundation.org/richard-pickup-tribute.html. Gifts may also be mailed to the Hoag Hospital Foundation at 330 Placentia Ave., Newport Beach, CA 92663.
Please include a memo indicating “Richard H. Pickup,” so gifts can be directed to the fund in support of the Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health.
