“Gosh, I miss human interaction so much,” added the exec, whose non-bank mortgage lender (NYSE: LDI) counts a market value topping $6 billion, following a February IPO that came on the heels of a record-setting year during the pandemic. “Come on opening day MLB, let’s get out and smell the grass and hear the crack of the bat.”
That post came before last week’s announcement that loanDepot now has a financial interest in getting people to the ballpark for the new season.
It paid for the naming rights to the home of MLB’s Miami Marlins—the stadium is now known as the uniquely capitalized loanDepot park. The Foothill Ranch company is also the presenting sponsor of the American League Championship Series and National League Championship Series.
Reports out of Florida peg the stadium deal at around $9 million a year or so; most of those reports said the deal came out of productive meetings earlier this year between Hsieh and Marlins CEO Derek Jeter.
No other press picked up on Hsieh’s passion for sports fishing as one likely reason the exec—whose fleet of boats includes the 144-foot “Bad Company” yacht—chose to work with the Florida team.
His LinkedIn account proudly notes he has logged “over 3,000 Blue, Black, and Striped Marlin catches from around the world.”
Add one more big catch to that list.
The OC-Miami connections were strong last week, with money flowing in both directions; see Jessie Yount’s
The gift matches the largest donation ever made by Lennar Foundation; it also backs the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami.
Lennar Co-CEO Jon Jaffe, who operates out of the builder’s West Coast office in Irvine, does more than just write checks in the name of fighting cancer.
On April 10, Jaffe and other Lennar team members are joining the Miami Dolphins for the 2021 Dolphins Cancer Challenge, a 100-mile bike ride that the homebuilder backs. It’ll be his eighth ride in the annual event, which has raised nearly $40 million for the Miami cancer center since 2010.
More information on the event can be found at dolphins.donordrive.com.
Local power lunches won’t be the same anymore, following the death of John Ghoukassian, founder of the Bistango and Bayside restaurants.
“John created the space where the biggest hitters in town would meet to lunch,” said Business Journal Publisher Richard Reisman. “John’s legacy will surely be continued by his two children, Marc and Karyn.”
For more on Ghoukassian, see next week’s print edition of the Business Journal.
