OC 50: New Faces, Subtle Shifts for Class of 2002
By MICHAEL LYSTER
In this issue you’ll find the OC 50, the Business Journal’s annual yearbook of the county’s most influential businesspeople.
The listing includes some familiar faces, notable newcomers and subtle twists and turns.
The section, which starts on page 21, is our admittedly subjective listing 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 even by what we dub the phone test,is a call from the executive likely to go straight through?
This year’s group is a diverse bunch, including land barons, tech tycoons, a surfer turned businessman, seasoned corporate hands and self-made entrepreneurs.
Among the OC 50 as well as the honorable mentions, there are seven women, seven Asian-Americans (including those from India), four Hispanics and an African-American.
Everybody, it seems, plays golf. Other hobbies among the OC 50 including song writing, playing the drums and raising English setter dogs.
Picking the OC 50 isn’t easy. The first go-round easily included more than 60 worthy candidates. 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.
The most noticeable change this year is a breakdown by industry group: technology, apparel, industry and services, healthcare, real estate and government and institutions. The move seemed only natural, with enough people in each group to support standalone sections.
Technology dominates the listing with 12 out of the 50 (this year’s tech group includes James Albaugh of Boeing Co., who moved from the industry category last year). It also includes one debut: James Madden, chief executive of Irvine-based Exult Inc. A $1 billion market value, expected profitability in the current quarter and Madden’s increasing profile made him a relatively easy pick.
Another addition is that of Michael Grainger, president of Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., alongside the returning Kent Foster, the technology distributor’s chief executive. We’re spotlighting Grainger too for his role running Ingram Micro on a daily basis with direction from Foster, who lives in Dallas.
And welcome back Matt Massengill. The chief of Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. made our listing in 2000 but fell off last year as the disk drive maker wrestled with losses and other internal issues. With two profitable quarters under his belt and a nice comeback on Wall Street, Massengill reclaims his spot this year.
A couple of faces from last year are missing from this year’s tech group.
Susan Parks, the former head of Gateway Inc.’s business unit in Lake Forest, dropped off after leaving the computer maker late last year. We’re looking for Parks,one of OC’s prominent female tech executives,to resurface and possibly make it on a future OC 50.
The case of Scott Blum wasn’t as clear cut. In March, Blum relocated himself, his family and Aliso Viejo’s ThinkTank Holdings LLC to Jackson Hole, Wyo. Blum’s still a player here,he retains a stake in Aliso Viejo-based Enfrastructure Inc. and owns all of Buy.com Inc., also of Aliso Viejo.
“I don’t think writing checks depends on where you live,” said Robert Price, buy.com’s president.
But Blum himself has characterized the move as a partial step back to spend more time with his family, which led to our decision not to include him in this year’s OC 50.
The apparel group includes some familiar names under a common heading: Kathy Bronstein of Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc., Robert Gray of Irvine-based St. John Knits International Inc., Jim Jannard of Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc., Bob McKnight of Huntington Beach’s Quiksilver Inc. and Greg Weaver of Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.
Last year, the five were split among the separate industry and services categories (this year, industry and services are a combined group). In most cases, putting them together just made sense,Pacific Sunwear is one of the biggest sellers of Quiksilver’s fashions. The move also reflects the growth of OC’s apparel industry and its retailers.
Industry and services,a grab bag of financiers, media types, car guys and others,includes a handful of newcomers.
Alan Boeckmann, Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp.’s new chief executive, made his way onto the list after Philip J. Carroll Jr. stepped down in January,a year early,saying his work was done. Emil Brolick, who’s in the early stages of a turnaround as president of Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp., also made the cut.
So did Tara Balfour, Bank of America Corp.’s top local official and head of statewide lending for mid-market companies. And Brian Kelley, president of Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln Mercury, takes the place of the retired Mark Hutchins.
A couple of industry and services notes:
Robert Hoff, head of Crosspoint Venture Partners’ Irvine office, went from last year’s OC 50 to honorable mention this year with a drop in activity at the Woodside-based venture capital firm.
Astute readers also may notice we listed Jeffrey Moorad of sports agency law firm Steinberg Moorad & Dunn as an honorable mention, instead of the more well-known Leigh Steinberg. The reason: Steinberg lost a bevy of clients when ex-partner David Dunn broke away. Moorad also gets the nod for his role with parent Assante Corp., where he’s president and chief operating officer of Assante Sports Management Group.
OC’s most influential healthcare executives got their own grouping this year. The names are familiar,all were in either industry or services last year. The one change: Philip Carter drops out of what was a joint entry with Larry Higby for Apria Healthcare Group Inc. Carter, a turnaround specialist, stepped down in February.
The separate healthcare grouping opens up space for some notable honorable mentions. Johnson Lau and Mark Taylor make it as co-chief executives of OC’s newest publicly traded drug maker, Ribapharm Inc., a spinoff of Costa Mesa-based ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. (former boss Milan Panic still is among the OC 50). We also cited Armand LeBlanc, president of Gensia Sicor Pharmaceuticals Inc., the largest unit of Irvine-based Sicor Inc., whose Chief Executive Marvin S. Samson lives in New Jersey.
Our real estate group held fairly stable, though there was one big change. George Argyros added U.S. ambassador to Spain to his entry. We debated whether to move Argyros to the government and institutions group but opted against it.
The reasoning: his influence here stems from real estate,whether as a developer, property owner or political activist with a war chest fueled by real estate and other investments.
Government and institutions, on the other hand, saw its share of change. Last year’s three-way entry for the University of California, Irvine, now counts just one: Chancellor Ralph Cicerone. Scratch last year’s Thomas Moebus, vice chancellor for university advancement who stepped down late last year, and David Blake, business dean whose contract wasn’t renewed this year.
Then there’s a new three-way entry that busts a lot of old stereotypes about OC. U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, state Sen. Joe Dunn and state Assemblyman Jose Correa are three lawmakers who solidify much of North County as a Democratic stronghold. Two are Hispanic and all three are business friendly to one degree or another.
OC’s top executives live all over the county,and in some cases all over the country. As expected, Newport Beach and environs dominate with 17. Laguna Beach is next with nine, including five in Emerald Bay. Coto de Caza is next with seven executives. Other addresses include Irvine and Santa Ana each with four. Orange, Villa Park and the Orange hills count five executives. San Juan Capistrano counts two, while Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Dana Point count one each.
Out-of-towners include executives who live in Beverly Hills, Palos Verdes, Westwood and Dallas. One has homes in Irvine and Seattle (FileNET Corp.’s Lee Roberts), while another has homes in Newport Beach and Bloomfield Hills, Mich., (Lincoln Mercury’s Kelley.) The most unusual address goes to Oakley Inc.’s Jim Jannard, who calls home an island off the coast of Washington.
