Forbes magazine is out with its list of the 400 richest Americans, with some surprising numbers for the list’s Orange County contingent.
Some of Forbes’ figures for local executives are higher than the Business Journal’s conservative estimates, which appeared in the Aug. 4 issue of the paper.
Donald Bren, chairman and owner of Irvine Company, is the highest-ranking from OC on the Forbes list at $12 billion. He’s the richest real estate owner in the country, according to the list.
Chicago’s Sam Zell is the next highest-ranking real estate executive at No. 68 and $5 billion.
In August, the Business Journal estimated Bren at $10.5 billion, unchanged from a year earlier to reflect lower values for land and office buildings.
Even so, we’ve always said our figure for Bren is conservative with sources pegging his wealth at $15 billion to $20 billion.
Next from OC is Jim Jannard, founder of Oakley Inc., at $3 billion, versus our $1.6 billion.
David Sun and John Tu, the executives and owners of Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Co., are at $4 billion each.
The Business Journal estimates Sun and Tu at $2 billion each. We contend Forbes may overvalue the pair by placing too much emphasis on the company’s flash memory business, which generates a higher valuation but only makes up about a fourth of the company’s business.
Bill Gross of Newport Beach bond fund manager Pacific Investment Management Co. is listed at $2 billion, versus our $1.3 billion
Real estate owner and businessman George Argyros is listed at $1.8 billion, versus our $1.5 billion based on lower values for real estate and his key stock holdings.
Broadcom Corp. cofounders Henry Nicholas and Henry Samueli are at $1.8 billion each. The Business Journal estimated Samueli at $1.9 billion, based on his slightly higher stake in the company, and Nicholas at $1.8 billion.
Igor Olenicoff, president and owner of Newport Beach-based real estate company Olen Properties Corp., is at $1.7 billion, versus our $1.5 billion.
