EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE
By MICHAEL LYSTER
This year’s OC 50,the Business Journal’s annual yearbook of the county’s most influential businesspeople,includes some big changes, subtle shifts and notable debuts.
The listing is our admittedly subjective roll call of the key movers and shakers in Orange County.
The 50 business, government and educational leaders are selected and screened in a variety of ways: company size, community involvement and by what we dub the phone test,is a call from the person likely to go straight through?
While the final cut is less than scientific, this year’s OC 50 includes all the names you’d expect, and then some. We look forward to hearing feedback on our selections, omissions and candidates for next year.
Arguably the biggest shift this year is in Broadcom Corp.’s joint entry in the Technology section. For years, the two Henrys,Broadcom cofounders Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas,shared the spot.
Now it’s Samueli and Alan “Lanny” Ross, who debuts on the list and once ran what became Conexant Systems Inc.
Nicholas is absent this year after stepping down in January amid family trouble and changing times at Broadcom.
You’ll notice a new face in Boeing Co.’s entry, too. James Albaugh, part of last year’s OC 50, got a promotion. He’s heading up the company’s recently formed Integrated Defense Systems unit in St. Louis.
In his place is William “Bill” Collopy, who oversees Boeing’s regional operation and reports to Albaugh.
In the Apparel section, OC’s premier fashion house, St. John Knits International Inc., saw a changing of the guard.
Patriarch Robert Gray, who had hoped to retire in 2001, finally did last year. Replacing him in the OC 50 are daughter Kelly Gray and Bruce Fetter, who serve as co-chief executives.
Another fashion exit: Kathy Bronstein, former chief executive of Wet Seal Inc. and the group’s highest ranking female executive last year. Bronstein was fired in February amid a deep slump at the apparel retailer.
In all, there are seven women among the OC 50, including honorable mentions. That’s the same as last year, with Gray replacing Bronstein.
Turmoil also led to a change at Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., publisher of the Orange County Register. Out from Freedom’s joint entry in Industry & Services is Sam Wolgemuth, who stepped down in August amid a feud among shareholders in the family-owned media company.
Replacing him is Alan Bell, alongside Register Publisher Chris Anderson, who carries forward from prior years. What Freedom’s entry will look like next year is anybody’s guess with a possible company sale or longshot bid by family members to buy out their disgruntled kin.
Ford Motor Co.’s entry also changed. Gone is the head of Lincoln Mercury with the automaker’s move back to Detroit in coming months. Victor Doolan, head of Premier Automotive Group’s Volvo, remains. Joining him is the other half of Premier,Mike O’Driscoll, who oversees Ford’s British brands here.
New to the Industry & Services group is David Moore, chief executive and cofounder of Santa Ana-based Corinthian Colleges Inc., which counted a $1.8 billion market value at recent check.
In case you miss it: sports agent Jeff Moorad repeats as an honorable mention as chief operating officer of the sports management group of Canada’s Assante Corp. But what once was super sports agency Steinberg Moorad & Dunn Inc. now is just Moorad Sports Management Inc. after David Dunn’s 2001 departure and Leigh Steinberg’s more recent exit.
George Boyadjieff, former chief executive of Varco International Inc., dropped from the Industry & Services group’s honorable mentions after stepping down as chairman in March. He remains a director but largely has retired after 30 years in the oil drilling gear business.
Real estate,typically the most static of the groupings,saw some notable changes. Mike Harrah, president of Santa Ana-based Caribou Industries Inc., debuts. Harrah owns about 2 million square feet of space in Santa Ana and is the driving force behind the city’s revival. He also is pushing plans for what would be OC’s largest building, a 37-story tower on Broadway.
And welcome Hadi Makarechian, head of Newport Beach-based Capital Pacific Holdings Inc.
The executives behind Irvine generic drug maker Sicor Inc., which counted a recent market value of about $2 billion, joined this year’s Healthcare group. Drug industry veteran Marvin Samson oversees Sicor from his New Jersey base. Art LeBlanc is his right-hand man and runs the company’s biggest unit in Irvine.
You may notice a change in the Government & Institutions group: State Assemblyman Lou Correa came off our listing. The two-time assemblyman from Santa Ana is expected to take a step back by running for the seat Chuck Smith is vacating on the county board of supervisors.
Some demographic notes: seven OC 50 members are Asian-American. Three are Hispanic. One is African-American.
Everybody, it seems, plays golf. Other hobbies include reading spy novels, playing drums and drag racing.
Newport Beach continues to be the address of choice for the OC 50, with 18 members living there, including Corona del Mar, Newport Coast and the exclusive harbor islands. Laguna Beach, including Emerald Bay, is next with nine OC 50ers.
After that: Irvine, with six, Orange, Villa Park and the hills above Tustin and Orange, six, and Coto de Caza, five. Four OC 50ers commute from Los Angeles, while one makes the drive up from Rancho Santa Fe.
The cover for this year’s OC 50 comes with thanks to Philips Electronics NV. The Dutch electronics company used the image,a bit of political realism with a tech twist,in press materials a few years back.
HOME STATE
Fifteen OC 50 members were born in California, the most of any place. Of those, four were born in Orange County: Matt Massengill, Parker Kennedy, Henry Segerstrom and Loretta Sanchez.
New York was next with five OC 50ers. After that is England and Illinois at four each. Massachusetts counts three native sons on the list. Washington, Pennsylvania and Minnesota each have two.
Next Generation
The youngest of the OC 50?
Kelly Gray, co-chief executive and signature model at St. John Knits International Inc. She’s a mere 36, well less than half the age of the oldest OC 50er, Donald Kennedy, the 84-year-old chairman of The First American Corp.
Gray’s not alone. There’s one other 30something in the lot: Quest Software Inc.’s Vinny Smith. He recently turned 39. Other relative youngsters include Bank of America’s Tara Balfour, 40, Oakley Inc.’s Colin Badin, 41, and Western Digital Corp.’s Matt Massengill, 42.
