Edward Kim has gathered his share of press locally, usually while wearing a doctor’s white coat.
He’s the physician-in-chief for the OC operations of City of Hope, which last week showed off a mock-up of its forthcoming six-story cancer hospital in Irvine, at the same campus as the Lennar Foundation Cancer Center which opened last year.
Outside of OC, Kim, a Laguna Niguel resident, recently became something of a social media star, for wearing all black.
Kim and his 22-year-old daughter Elyssa often attend Taylor Swift concerts together. A recent TikTok video they made while going to the opening night for the pop star’s latest tour in Glendale, Ariz., went viral with north of half a million views as each wore outfits from prior Swift “eras.”
Said a report from Today.com: “For her ensemble, Elyssa Kim donned a pink furry jacket over a black sequin dress. She accessorized with a pair of black platform boots and pink sunglasses with bejeweled hearts. Edward Kim opted for a monochromatic black tracksuit and a pair of reflective aviator shades.”
Said a TikTok user, responding to the clip: “Ur dad slays so hard.”
The city of Irvine will propose opening a new Innovation Lab facility for budding entrepreneurs next to its train station, not too far away from City of Hope’s local campus and the existing, temporary FivePoint Ampitheatre, which can hold about 12,000. See Kaitlin Aquino’s story on page 11 for more.
A suggestion for an immediate focus of innovation, for both prospective entrepreneurs and the city’s brain trust: surely a better arrangement for a new, permanent concert theater can be created than the ones now being considered in conjunction with Live Nation.
Perhaps one that doesn’t require the city to front the bill for most of the facility’s construction, given Live Nation’s (NYSE: LYV) nearly $16B valuation and $5.6B of cash on hand.
Perhaps an online ticketing system that doesn’t involve Live Nation’s Ticketmaster and its egregious service charges could also be considered.
(The Kims’ fellow ‘Swifties,’ some of whom are suing Ticketmaster for yet another debacle over its ticketing practices, would no doubt approve.)
The city’s made some questionable financial decisions over the years, in regard to its stewardship of the Great Park. A deal now being considered for a new, 14,000-seat spot, with the city paying $114 million for the construction, and Live Nation paying just $20 million, could end up among its worst.
See our back page Leader Board from Jim Doti & Co. on the latest findings from the Chapman-UCI Innovation Index, and the need to better position OC as “a leader in the creation of advanced industries,” and this page’s story for more on the latest expansion plans in Irvine for small-satellite maker Terran Orbital (NYSE: LLAP), one of the more innovative area firms in the aerospace sector.
Terran’s CEO, Marc Bell, who in January was named our Businessperson of the Year for the tech sector, will be the keynote speaker at the Octane Tech Innovation Forum on May 10 in Irvine.
