So saddened by the news of the passing of my friend, Orange County Business Journal family member Patrick Chao, this past Tuesday. Patrick was married for 55 years to groundbreaking fine-dining columnist Fifi Chao, the inimitable empress of “Chao’s Dynesty.”
“She never really had a boss,” Patrick told me last November. “And now I don’t have my boss.”
A close family friend shared, “He died of heartbreak.” Patrick was 88.
So Jeff Bezos and Amazon picked New York and Northern Virginia for HQ2. You recall Amazon spurned three OC bids: Irvine; the “Silicon Cities” of Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Orange; and the “Surf Cities” of Huntington Beach and neighbor Long Beach. Based on the cold reaction of pols in winning bidder NYC, to steal an old Marlon Brando line: “We didn’t miss nothing.” Also reminds me of that old joke: “Gimme back that map of Orange County.”
Uninspiring Point … The eggies at Oxford picked “toxic” as 2018 word of the year … I like runner-up “techlash,” a reference to the growing disdain for the outsize and lightly regulated influence of Big Tech in Silicon Valley. Recall the celebrated February exodus from SV this year by billionaire Peter Thiel, unabashed Donald Trump supporter, investor in Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries in Irvine, and co-founder of Oculus VR. PayPal founder Thiel famously pointed his car south on the 101 near NorCal after lashing the monolithic, liberal views of Facebook, Google, et al. as creating a “one-party state.” And if Thiel needed proof, see this week’s prominent WSJ story on the ouster of Luckey from Facebook: “Why Did Facebook Fire a Top Executive? Hint: It Had Something to Do With Trump,” Nov.11 … BTW, Luckey is busy hiring OC’s best-and-brightest for his new A.I. –inspired defense company. “If you want to build cool products that make America safer, please ping me,” Luckey tweeted this past summer …
Charlie and Ling Zhang are longtime successful restaurateurs, investors and prolific givers, especially to the arts. The Zhangs were among nine honorees at Thursday’s 33rd Annual Philanthropy Day Celebration at City National Grove of Anaheim. Ling emigrated here from Taiwan, Charlie from Shanghai, with “nothing but hopes and dreams.” OK, Charlie had a 20 and soon a dishwasher gig at Yen Ching in Orange, where 40 years later he became 50% owner after funding an upgrade to the iconic Old Towne restaurant … Here’s how the Zhangs ended their humble acceptance on stage: “This country opened its arms and gave us opportunity. It’s our turn to give back to the land we love.” But the couple wasn’t quite finished, launching into an off-script “God Bless America” as nearly 1,000 rose in chorus. It’s viral. Please check it out …
I am checking out as Insider columnist, editor. In the last 18 months, I’ve met so many bright, creative people—some are familiar names: They’re either doing what they’ve been doing, some for decades but always refreshed and just as excited about crafting the next deal; some, also familiar serial entrepreneurs just don’t “retire well.” The gig offered me a chance to rejoin the middle of the most diverse Orange County Inc.—thank you, Mr. Chuck Martin—diverse in every possible way, including the growing new ecosystem: Cylance, Alteryx, Axonics (see page 1 stories) …
Coming down from the Ivory Tower after 20 years—love Chapman, bleed red and Doti—I just didn’t know what I didn’t know: The OC Community of Business is so much more dynamic than when I arrived in 1990, than at any other time.
And I maintain—focus here, beloved students—it’s business stories more than any other that prove one of the oldest saws in journalism: The best stories, almost all stories, become most compelling when they are most about the people in the story. I’ll continue reporting on and writing about those people in my role as contributing editor. And those who have come to know me also know this: Got a story idea or an update, never hesitate to contact me.
I prefer phone calls.
