Manufacturing magnate, Pelican Hill resident and OC’s Wealthiest list member Toshiaki Ogasawara died Nov. 30 in Newport Beach at age 85.
Ogasawara founded Tokyo-based industrial parts maker Nifco Inc. in 1967; it had $2.6 billion in net sales and $176 million in net income last year. Nifco is the parent of English-language newspaper the Japan Times.
Ogaswara bought a $19 million residence in Pelican Hill about five years ago and has been a regular on the Business Journal’s OC Wealthiest in recent years; we estimated his wealth for the 2016 ranking at about $350 million.
He has in recent years remained as chairman of Simmons Co. Ltd, which in Asia sells mattresses made by Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding Co. LLC, but stepped down from roles at Nifco and the newspaper in the last year.
Ogasawara also developed real estate in Australia.
He was a trustee at the University of Southern California, started a science and engineering foundation, and backed the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
