Two visitors are ushered into the home of Howard and Roberta Ahmanson.
Roberta is stuck in traffic and won’t make it back in time to talk.
Howard sits in what seems a favorite chair and looks comfortable enough.
That’s mostly true—except for the couple’s fortune, which brings up different aspects of life at their $30 million home on a bluff above Little Corona (see related entry on OC Wealthiest list in Special Report, starting on page 15).
“It’s kind of interesting being old money in a new-money town,” Howard says.
He inherited his money—he knows he never had to work for it.
Commercial Real Estate
He nonetheless dabbled in commercial real estate in the 1980s.
“I was pretending to be an investor and realized it was not working out well for me,” he says.
Lesson learned: “I don’t consider myself to be a businessman, entrepreneur or venture capitalist,” he says.
He says his circumstance as an heir makes for key differences between him and many on the Business Journal’s OC’s Wealthiest list—a crop that for the most part made their fortunes through commercial enterprise.
It’s a fortune he inherited from his father, Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson Sr., who started and grew Home Savings & Loan. When Ahmanson Sr. died in 1968, his estate was split between the Ahmanson Foundation and his then-18-year-old son.
Being an heir means Howard doesn’t worry as much about reputation—something likely to be a chief concern for individuals active in the marketplace.
That aspect of life as an heir keeps him from thinking too highly of himself, he says, but also means he’s often misunderstood by others with money, as well as by those seeking funds, a list that includes the scads of nonprofit groups that champion various causes and political parties.
Personal Time, Passions
A life unburdened by commercial enterprise also affects his personal calendar.
“The people I enjoy spending time with are not necessarily other rich people,” Howard says. “They’re interesting, thinking people.”
Roberta’s personal passions gravitate to the visual arts; Howard’s are focused on the written word.
“It takes a lot more work mentally for me to sit through a movie than to read a book,” he says. He gravitates toward books on history and economics.
He sees society shifting back to a more visual view of the world versus that of the written word. It worries him, while making giving to good works in visual arenas more important.
The Ahmansons’ philanthropy reflects the written/visual interplay and the kinds of concerns more common with an inherited fortune. They have supported such projects as the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, a collection of books by early Christian writers; the “Year of the Arts,” a visual arts program at Biola University in La Mirada in 2011-12; Jim Palmer and the Orange County Rescue Mission’s attempts to make a new aesthetic sense part of the social services the organization delivers; and a conference on “Beauty and the Poor” in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Their interests and charitable efforts span the globe. They take pictures of churches and have given money as far afield as Uganda and Thailand.
The couple also maintain deep interests close to home, giving to causes down the street, throughout the county, and into the greater Los Angeles area.
Focused
Yet their philanthropy is focused despite the wide net, Howard says.
“Being generous means saying no to the 99 so you can give to the one,” he says, eschewing the notion of “idle rich.” Instead he talks of the “busyness” and business of being wealthy and the demands it can place on one’s time and life.
He says Roberta wants to work on a book about beauty—if she can find the time.
Choosing beneficiaries of their giving requires the help of a 24-member staff—some working for the family, the rest at the foundation—that keeps offices in Irvine.
“You have to screen requests, or it would all be gone in 10 minutes,” Howard says.
The rich might be different but not all the time.
He says he’d sometimes rather just be home with his books.
But he credits his father’s desire to serve the community and crafts it into a mandate to give.
“I give,” he says, “because I want them to have the money.”
With his visitors, wide-ranging conversation reaches into other subjects—the restoration of the Port Theater in Corona del Mar, leaders of ethnic communities in Los Angeles, the Middle East today and yesterday.
There’s a mention of blogging after some musings on ancient Persia.
Twitter comes up. Howard acknowledges he has an account on the social media site.
“But I use Twitter very little,” he says. “And I’m not very disciplined about it.”
