FOUNDED: 1868
LEGACY LEADERSHIP: Founded by Leland Stanford, a prominent railroad executive, former California governor and founder of Stanford University.
KEY EXECUTIVE: Thomas C. Sutton, 1990-2007; rebranded with iconic humpback whale featured in national advertisements. Current CEO Darryl Button is 15th in the company’s history.
HQ: Moved from LA to Newport Center in 1972 into an iconic building designed by William Pererira.
OC SIGNIFICANCE: One of largest private local employers with 1,850 out of 4,800 in Orange County. Spun out Pimco, now one of world’s largest financial firms with $2.3T in assets, and Aviation Capital Group, one of the world’s largest owners of leased aircraft.
BY THE NUMBERS: $1.6T life insurance in force; $275B assets; 1M members. 2025 sales rose 20% to $18.8B.
QUOTABLE: “We continue to invest in the future of Pacific Life by building modern, scalable digital capabilities. Through targeted investments in our people and in generative AI, we launched new internal tools to enhance customer experience in our life and annuity businesses and strengthen underwriting capabilities in Workforce Benefits.” — CEO Darryl Button and Chairman Mariann Byerwalter in annual letter
FUN FACT: Since founding in 1984, foundation has donated $170M to nonprofits; including tens of millions in OC.
