Broadcom co-founder and Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli passed up an opportunity to buy a professional video gaming team.
The surprising disclosure came during a panel discussion on the rise of esports during OCTANe’s signature annual event, Technology Investor Forum, on May 31 and June 1 at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa.
“We decided not to do that,” Gerald Solomon, executive director of the Samueli Foundation, said in the discussion.
The Newport Beach-based foundation made headlines in September when it gave $200 million to the University of California-Irvine, the largest in the school’s history and seventh-largest to a single public university, according to UCI.
The market for esports franchises varies widely, from a few hundred thousand dollars to more than $20 million, the reported buy-in price for teams in the Overwatch League, which Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc. launched in January. The Samueli Foundation established the OC High School Esports League, which ended its first season last year. Solomon is commissioner of the league.
Samueli, a lifelong sports fan, wouldn’t budge on esports, but the billionaire went all in trying to attract the Sacramento Kings as the NBA franchise contemplated relocation in 2011, agreeing to pump as much as $70 million into improvements at the Honda Center.
He bought the Ducks in 2005 for an estimated $75 million. Forbes valued the hockey club at $460 million last year, No. 16 among 31 NHL teams.
TIF is billed as the largest conference in Southern California focused on high growth and innovation technology investment, drawing some l,800 attendees annually, as well as dozens of companies and investors.
Proxy Fight
Two of the country’s leading independent proxy and corporate governance service providers have weighed in on the proxy battle between Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. and two dissident investors.
Acacia (Nasdaq: ACTG) at its annual shareholder meeting next week hopes to re-elect Chairman G. Louis Graziadio, who took the top board post in 2016, and Frank Walsh, who joined the board the same year.
New York-based hedge fund manager Sidus Investment Management LLC and BLR Partners LP in Houston—two of the company’s largest shareholders with a combined 4.6% of outstanding Acacia shares—want to replace them with Clifford Press and Alfred Tobia.
San Francisco-based Glass, Lewis & Co., a pre-eminent consultant and influential voice on such skirmishes, is recommending a vote for only Tobia, who co-founded and serves as equity portfolio manager at Sidus.
He serves as a director at San Antonio-based marketing agency Harte Hanks Inc. (NYSE: HHS).
The country’s other leading proxy advisory, Maryland-based Institutional Shareholder Services, recommends Tobia and Press, a co-owner of New York investment advisory firm Oliver Press Partners LLC. Press is a director at several public companies, including Stewart Information Services Corp., Quantum Corp. and Drive Shack Inc.
Acacia, in a new development, said in a letter last week to shareholders that it will appoint Tobia if both of its nominees are re-elected.
Under Graziadio, the company shifted its business model to focus on investing in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and blockchain applications, deviating from its core business of monetizing patents primarily through litigation, an increasingly costly and challenging endeavor due to recent changes in intellectual property law, devalued intellectual property and jurisdiction limitations.
Acacia’s revenue declined 57.1% last year to $65.4 million. It posted net income of $22.1 million compared to a loss of $54 million in 2016. Its shares, trading at about $3.80 as of press time, are down about 7.3% this year to a market cap of roughly $192 million.
Shift to Midwest
ShiftPixy Inc. (Nasdaq: PIXY) has expanded operations to Chicago, one of the top restaurant destinations in the country.
“The city has a dominant food and hospitality scene,” Chief Executive Scott Absher said in a statement.
The expansion is the third this year for the Irvine-based company, which developed an app and online system that provides temporary and short-notice shift workers to the restaurant and hospitality industries.
The Chicago office follows location openings in Orlando and Austin.
ShiftPixy went public about a year ago under Regulation A+ rules that allow smaller initial public offerings. The company raised $12 million through the sale of 2 million shares to build its technology, open offices and hire staff.
Its shares, down about 14% this year, were trading around $2.47 as of press time, with a market cap of about $71 million.
