Could Scott Flanders be leaving the libertarians for the libertines? Sources say that Flanders, CEO of Freedom Communications, parent of the OC Register, is one of several finalists for the CEO job at Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises. It’s a long way (if not alphabetically) from Hoiles to Hef, but both companies share a troubled financial outlook. Flanders declined to comment on the Playboy matter. But he did confirm that Freedom has hired investment adviser Houlihan Lokey to work on a restructuring plan. Steps taken by Flanders, including drawing down the company’s credit lines, are expected to get Freedom through ’09 with a positive operating cash flow and some money in the bank, but it appears Freedom will need a new deal with its lenders to avoid bankruptcy in 2010 …
Matriarch: Angie Rados has died at age 105, ending a rich life and, the Insider guesses, Orange County’s longest chairmanship. Since her husband’s death in 1957, Rados had served as chairman of their infrastructure-construction company, Santa Ana-based Steve P. Rados Inc. Angie still was driving, cooking for herself and taking an occasional trip to Las Vegas after turning 100, and until recently remained up to speed on the company’s projects. She is survived by five kids, including company co-presidents Wally and Steve and retired president Alex, and more than a dozen grand and great-grandchildren …
In what looks like a sudden game of one-upmanship between UCI and Chapman U, UCI has struck back with a $45 million renewal grant for infectious disease research. “Now I need a $50 million grant,” quips Chapman Prez Jim Doti …
As part of “ongoing efforts to reduce corporate operating costs,” Irvine Company has removed all plants (except those in the main lobby) from its offices at Newport Center and Irvine Spectrum and given them to employees. Some artwork “no longer considered standard for the company” also has been taken down …
Democrat Irvine Councilwoman Beth Krom is busy fundraising in her bid to unseat incumbent GOP Congressman John Campbell in 2010. Sun Healthcare Group CEO Richard Matros and wife Adrienne are hosting a Krom fundraiser at their Crystal Cove home on June 3. Krom’s “Women in Leadership” event this week includes contribution levels labeled “Suffragettes,” “Bra Burners” and “Roe vs. Wade” …
Correction: The Insider got confused by the secretary of state’s double-entry bookkeeping. Henry Segerstrom has given $250,000, not $500,000, to support this month’s ballot propositions …
The Middle East in OC: Reza Pahlavi, crown prince of Iran until the revolution, spoke at UCI. Muhammad Mian Soomro, Pakistan’s interim leader after Pervez Musharraf’s resignation, met with the World Affairs Council. On his first visit to California, youthful Afghan tribal chief Ajmal Khan Zazai stopped at the Laguna Niguel home of Sir Eldon Griffiths. The world may soon hear more of the Western-educated, U.S.-friendly Zazai, a critic of his country’s political corruption.
