In late 1992, early 1993 Business Journal Publisher Richard Reisman and Editor Rick Reiff had been on the job just over two years, “learning fast but a lot to learn,” Reiff recalled. They were building staff, attracting advertisers, making inroads into and hoping to become a lynchpin in the Orange County Community of Business.
Following the first Business Person of the Year issue—the person that year was Peter Ueberroth, who picked up the phone when his friend Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley called after the riots, and agreed to helm Rebuild LA—the RRs were looking for “something special.”
They came up with the OC 50.
Twenty-five years later, we’ve dropped the “Leroy” from Donald B., the “Victor” from Peter U., but neither person, of course, from the OC 50.
I talked to friend and consigliore Reiff about those blank-canvas days and, hey, why not 100?
Reiff: We decided on 50, a nice round number. I probably worried 100 might be too much the first time around for a staff still on a learning curve—but I knew it would get the reporters thinking more, diving deeper into the companies and people they cover. Who were the true movers and shakers? You know, if that person calls, do you pick up the phone?
Business Journal: How different was the business landscape? Hard to fill? One to two dominant industries as opposed to today’s diverse ecosystem?
Reiff: Hard to fill? Not at all. We had another half hundred honorable mentions. The landscape was somewhat the same—big tech and med sectors, a surfwear titan, lots of real estate. But many of the players have changed. We had AST Research but no Broadcom, Jackie Autry instead of Arte Moreno, Jack Lindquist instead of Josh D’Amoro.
There was a little less biomed and healthcare and a heavier emphasis on the legacy defense and engineering businesses—our original list had Rockwell and Don Beall, execs from the soon-to-merge McDonnell Douglas (with Boeing) and the departed Fluor.
Business Journal: Biggest surprises? Any fights, you know the calls. Where am I? This person?
Reiff: What makes you think with me and Richard there would be any fights? There was a lot of constructive back-and-forth. We asked all the reporters, other staffers to weigh in. Who’s obvious? A hidden gem? Then we had to make judgment calls, this exec of a midsized company or an influential elected official. (Editor’s note: The 25th edition this week includes no elected officials, though our annual OC 500 has many.)
Business Journal: Looking at the 1993 list, your take versus 2017?
Reiff: Two thoughts: One, that starting from scratch, we did a heckuva job. Even in hindsight, the list holds up pretty well. But the other striking thing is just how much better the list is now, building on each successive list.
We had a couple of misses—no Bill Gross or other PIMCO execs, no Chuck Martin. John Tu, yes, but no Kingston’s other half, David Sun. I’ll stop here, hurts too much.
(Editor’s note: I’ll ease Rick’s pain on PIMCO. In 1993 the giant asset manager wasn’t yet spun off from Pacific Life, which happened in 1994, and the Total Return Fund was a fixed-income child launched in 1987. As for leaving out Chuck Martin, you’ll have to square that with Twyla.)
Business Journal: Of the special lists and issues—Wealthiest, OC 50, OC 500, Business Persons of the Year—which was the most fun? Was there an ulcer carrier among them?
Reiff: I love all of them, but Business Person of the Year was always my favorite. It was the first of these specials, but also I’m a huge baseball fan, and what’s better than the MVP award? That’s our MVP Award, and it’s also the most fun to argue over. Wealthiest was the most fun to work on because it requires the most reporting skills, sleuthing, cajoling, finessing and computing—as you now know.
Business Journal: Guessing it’s close to tee time. Thank you for blazing the trail, Rick.
Here are the five people who were on the first OC 50 and remain on the list today: George Argyros, Donald Bren, Tony Moiso, John Tu and Peter Ueberroth (see the complete list of the first OC 50, page 26).
Editor’s Note: On behalf of the Business Journal and the Community of Business, I thank Editor at Large Reiff for taking chances like creating the OC 50.
The Orange County Press Club will honor Reiff with its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award on June 14 at the Newport Beach Marriott.
