Almost six years after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Corona del Mar’s Augie Nieto ends 2011 defying the odds, ever enthusiastic and nearing $31 million raised to combat ALS. “We have momentum!” he emailed, using a device that lets him type with his toes. “We are confident that we will have a ‘cocktail’ of drugs that will slow down the progression of ALS! We are blessed with the resources to help others with ALS!” Augie has had two careers as an entrepreneur—founder of gym-equipment maker Life Fitness and now head of celebrity-supported Augie’s Quest, a fundraising and research operation affiliated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Said wife Lynne, “They may call it Lou Gehrig’s Disease, but they’ll call it Augie Nieto’s Cure.” ‘Tis the season to check out augiesquest.org …
An estimated 1,000 family, friends and real estate colleagues packed into Our Lady Queen of Angels in Corona del Mar to bid farewell to Don Koll. He was eulogized as a builder, leader, dreamer, mentor, fun-lover and adventurer—“truly a man of the West,” said son-in-law Lee Hancock. Grubb & Ellis cofounder Ron Tomsic, a basketball star and Koll’s buddy in their Stanford days, called him “Don Corleone, the Godfather.” Son Jack Koll recalled his dad quizzing cabbies in foreign lands, then telling them “how things worked in America.” The day ended, in Don Koll style, with long get-togethers at the Balboa Bay Club and the Koll compound on Balboa Island …
The day after he died, Koll’s wife Kathi received a condolence call from President George W. Bush …
A Christmas story: Supe John Moorlach is in his Impala at a red light near the Civic Center in Santa Ana chatting up a homeless man. An Audi pulls up, a guy gets out and hands the homeless man a plastic bag filled with presents. Moorlach recognizes the gift-giver as lawyer and former Irvine Councilman Chris Mears, a political opposite but someone who shares a concern for the homeless and an affection for this particular fellow, Tommy …
Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor confessed to the Financial Times, “My personality tests show my conflict-avoidance score is zero. I have to be careful about it; I will upset people and I will cause unneeded friction.” McGregor is overseeing the Irvine chipmaker’s integration of Santa Clara-based NetLogic Microsystems, its biggest acquisition ($3.7 billion) to date …
Somebody finally upstaged Chapman U Prez Jim Doti—T. Boone Pickens. Doti introduced the Texas oilman to 950 attending a First Foundation event at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach last week. When Doti started giving him the Chapman fundraising pitch, Pickens interrupted: “I thought George Argyros takes care of you.” The folksy Pickens argued for a national energy policy and more use of natural gas, a fuel provided by his Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. …
The OCBJ returns Jan. 2 with our 2011 Businessperson of the Year. A hint: There are two, and they’re competitors.
