Mike McKee’s departure from The Irvine Company is a reminder there really is no No. 2 at the giant landowner,there’s Donald Bren and then there’s everybody else. Last week, as Bren ($10.5 billion estimated net worth) again topped the Business Journal’s list of the richest people in Orange County, the company announced McKee’s retirement, 14 months after owner-chairman Bren had elevated him to the long-vacant CEO position. Corporate lawyer McKee, 62, ran the OC office of Latham & Watkins before ascending at the Irvine Co., where he was “Mr. Inside” and Bren’s closest adviser. But the task-driven McKee said he decided to leave “so I can be master of my own time while I’m still young and healthy.” He’ll focus on board and charity work, including the Tiger Woods Foundation. He said he’ll “get out of the way” at the Irvine Co. by relinquishing his corporate board seat and his seat on the Donald Bren Foundation board. McKee downplayed the CEO title. Bren “has given me three to four title changes but my role hasn’t really changed. You’re supporting what he is doing. He’s the driver, he sets the tone. I never had illusions that I did that.” McKee did think that when he was promoted to CEO that Bren, 76, intended to take “a little more vacation and time off,it didn’t happen.” McKee joins other senior executives who have left the company in the past two years. Observers describe challenging times at TIC, which while profitable and financially solid, is under pressure from stalled land sales, rising office vacancies and a sluggish retail environment. Bren is said to be pessimistic about the short-term prospects for the real estate industry; company execs, who in most years can expect bonuses that match or exceed their six-figure salaries, are bracing for slashed payouts. Bren, 76, said he will “continue to be an active chairman.” Development and entitlement chief Dan Young and income properties boss Rick Gilchrist, with a relatively short 10 years in the company between them, are the new first among equals, carrying out the executive officer functions with Bren in the office of chairman …
Do OCers live the good life? Depends on where in the county they live, according to the New York-based American Human Development Project, which uses Census data to measure health, wealth and education levels in the nation’s 436 congressional districts. John Campbell’s South County district ranks No. 4, while Loretta Sanchez’ central district finishes in the bottom quartile (No. 368). Dana Rohrabacher’s coastal district places 20th. Ed Royce’s North County district, 97th …
Gustavo Arellano is rolling out a second Scribner-published book, “Orange County: a Personal History” and getting ready for another national media tour. Arellano turned his riotous OC Weekly “Ask a Mexican” column into a well-publicized first book. Now he focuses on his hometown, “the Ellis Island of the 21st century.” Pre-orders online.
