The Hoag Classic in Newport Beach doesn’t tee off until March 6, but there’s still plenty of local golf news.
The Insider has learned that Marbella Country Club in San Juan Capistrano, a stomping ground for local executives, sold for about $20 million, a 60% markup to its last reported sale more than a decade ago.
Property records indicate that the buyer is an L.A.-based investor with no known ties to the golf club. Membership over the years has included ex-Microsemi boss Jim Peterson, ex-Emulex chief Paul Folino and others.
“The guys at Marbella think it’s Augusta,” Jimmy P told our reporter Chris Casacchia in a feature last month. “They yell at me for driving my cart in the wrong spot.”
For additional golf-related coverage, watch out for next week’s Business Journal coverage of Fountain Valley’s Genesis Motor America, which hosted the waterlogged Genesis Open at L.A.’s Riviera Country Club the weekend of the 16th, as well as more on the Hoag Classic.
More sports news: Angels owner Arte Moreno is a potential buyer of a quartet of Fox regional sports networks including the team’s local affiliate Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket, according to Fox Business, citing knowledgeable sources.
A $2 billion price is the ballpark figure for the four RSNs Moreno is eyeing, which would also include San Diego and Arizona networks. He paid $180 million for the baseball team in 2003.
Palmer Luckey left Facebook Inc. when the Menlo Park social media giant was still largely seen as an agent of good—back in 2017.
Now, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech and marketing colossus is coming under increasing scrutiny—government and otherwise—for its murky handling of user data, right around the same time Luckey’s Anduril Industries is working with the government on border security-related contracting work; see our front page story for more.
Luckey’s thoughts on his former employer’s business practices? “Selling your own user data is fine. Selling the data of your friends is not,” he noted in a Twitter message this month.
Palmer, meet Walter Cruttenden. The local banking and fintech visionary (see story, page 20), fresh off a $105 million funding round for his Acorns Grow Inc., is taking the wraps off his latest business, Ant Transaction Machines, which helps users self-monetize their online activities.
The business aims for users of Facebook, Google, Amazon and other sites to “capture $50 to $100 per month of the micro-income stream you are currently giving away.”
Check out the next OCBJ for more.
