In 2019, a few weeks after we excerpted a selection of CoolSys CEO Adam Coffey’s first business book, “The Private Equity Playbook“,” his Brea-based company that installs and maintains refrigeration and heating systems for companies such as Walmart, Costco and Starbucks, followed the author’s playbook—it was sold to PE heavyweight Ares Management of Los Angeles.
Coffey’s recently-released second book, “The Exit Strategy Playbook,” was excerpted in our paper in late September; it currently ranks high on several of Amazon’s business book categories.
News has again come on the heels of his books’ publication, with Coffey’s recent exit from one of OC’s larger and fastest-growing private companies, with annual sales of $630 million.
CoolSys’ board last month appointed Anesa Chaibi as the company’s next CEO. She was CEO from 2005 to 2015 of HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, at one time a unit of Home Depot.
Coffey now serves as senior adviser to CoolSys’ board of directors. A reason for his departure as CEO wasn’t disclosed, though his new book hinted at a new focus.
“Over the course of my career, I’ve learned that no matter how much money I make, I can’t buy time,” he wrote. “It’s the one element that is critical but can’t be purchased.”
David Bahnsen appears to be having too much fun at his namesake wealth manager firm, The Bahnsen Group, to consider leaving. The Newport Beach firm manages over $3 billion in client capital and business has been booming of late for the frequent guest on Fox Business, CNBC and Bloomberg, among other media outlets.
Bahnsen has his own book hot off the press: “There’s No Free Lunch, 250 Economic Truths,” which will be excerpted in an upcoming print edition for our paper.
Nearly 300 people last week went to the Newport Beach Country Club for a book release party headlined by Larry Kudlow, Donald Trump’s former top economic adviser and now a consultant for the Bahnsen Group.
During Bahnsen’s Q&A;, fiscal conservative Kudlow revealed a watershed moment early in the COVID-19 crisis when he advised Republican congressional leaders that the federal government’s initial expenditures had to be more than $1 trillion, instead of the $200 billion that they were discussing.
Bahnsen, a fierce conservative, said he loved Kudlow’s comments on how he and then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in summer 2020 took over press appearances on COVID and the economy “because they knew POTUS was unlikely to stay on message.”
It’s not just Chipotle’s nearly 2,900 restaurants that have faced challenges getting workers on-site.
“Personally, I’m thrilled to welcome our restaurant support center leaders back to the office beginning in November,” CEO Brian Niccol told analysts late last month. Chipotle has support centers at its Newport Center headquarters and in Columbus, Ohio.
The reopenings “will allow us to optimize creativity, camaraderie, and effectiveness, key elements that help make Chipotle unique and powerful brand,” Niccol said.
His firm has done well despite the work-from-home policy; shares in the company (NYSE:CMG) have more than tripled in price since March 2020; Chipotle counts a nearly $50 billion valuation.
For more on the labor challenges facing some of the area’s largest restaurant chains, see Kari Hamanaka’s front-page story.
