PAUL MERAGE
CHAIRMAN
MIG CAPITAL
THE MONEY: Along with brother David, co-founded Chef America Inc., a frozen foods company that sold in 2002 to Nestlé for $2.6B. Name along the side of UCI business school after $30M donation.
THE NUMBERS: After sale of frozen food business, began Newport Beach-based MIG Capital, which has about $1B in assets and is managed by son Richard. Nephew Greg manages real estate arm with more than 4M square feet of industrial flex, office and grocery-anchored shopping centers and nearly 7K multifamily units and over 1.1K hotel rooms. Last year, made first reported local acquisition in more than a decade, paying $61.1M for a 138-unit apartment complex in Costa Mesa. Brother Cam is founder and CEO of First Team Real Estate, an Irvine-based real estate team.
BIG BREAK: Inventor in 1983 of Hot Pockets. “With an eye for change, Paul recognized the demographic and social shifts in America—more working parents, less time to prepare meals for families and an array of advances made possible with the expanding use of the microwave oven,” UCI said.
PHILANTHROPY: The Paul & Elisabeth Merage Family Foundation counts close to $50M AUM, according to public records. Major donations include $30M to UCI Paul Merage School of Business and $1M to Segerstrom Center. Recent donations included $750K to UCI’s Shaping the Future Campaign, and $158K to Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Also gave $500K to the Merage Institute Business Executive Leadership Program to promote innovation to spur new opportunities in fields like cybersecurity and medical devices.
