Orange County is well-represented in the latest edition of\u00a0Forbes, which compiled its list of \u201cthe 250 greatest living self-made Americans\u201d in honor of the country\u2019s upcoming semiquincentennial.<\/p>\n
The list is celebrity-heavy and counts its share of crossover with the business publications\u2019 annual list of the country\u2019s wealthiest people. Forbes notes, \u201cwhile we put a heavy emphasis on rags-to-riches billionaires, we also included pioneering scientists, Supreme Court justices and others whose \u2018wealth\u2019 is measured in influence and impact, not just dollar signs.\u201d<\/p>\n
OC-based business execs on the list include\u00a0Broadcom\u00a0co-founder\u00a0Henry Samueli\u00a0(No. 29),\u00a0Olen Properties\u2019\u00a0Igor Olenicoff (35),\u00a0Masimo\u00a0founder\u00a0Joe Kiani\u00a0(39),\u00a0Kingston Technologies\u00a0founders\u00a0David Sun\u00a0(58) and\u00a0John Tu\u00a0(62), and\u00a0Arnel & Affiliates\u2019\u00a0George Argyros\u00a0(229).<\/p>\n
Others on the list with close ties to OC, via investments or secondary homes, include\u00a0Montage Laguna Beach\u00a0owner\u00a0Tilman Fertitta\u00a0(No. 66),\u00a0Panda Express\u00a0founders\u00a0Andrew\u00a0and\u00a0Peggy Cherng\u00a0(199 and 200), and entrepreneurs\u00a0Patrick Soon-Shiong\u00a0(96) and\u00a0Mark Cuban\u00a0(204).<\/p>\n
For real estate investor Olenicoff, 83, the latest recognition \u201cis a lifetime achievement for me; I am in awe of the designation and ranking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olenicoff grew up in what\u2019s now Northern Iran, where his czarist-connected family had moved to escape the aftermath of the Soviet Revolution. They later arrived in the U.S. with just $800 and four suitcases when he was 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am especially mindful of where this journey began, and the opportunities this country has provided along the way,\u201d said Olenicoff, whose fortune the Business Journal now estimates at around $10 billion.<\/p>\n
The City of Irvine\u2019s scuttled deal with\u00a0Live Nation\u00a0in 2023 over a new, $120 million amphitheater at the Great Park received\u00a0New York Times\u00a0coverage on April 7, amid an ongoing\u00a0Justice Department\u00a0antitrust case against the entertainment behemoth.<\/p>\n
The government asserted that after Irvine\u2019s City Council pushed back against Live Nation having exclusive booking rights for the proposed 14,000-seat venue, Live Nation responded by threatening city officials, among other monopolistic practices.<\/p>\n
The surprising protagonist of the story, according to the NYT\u2019s narrative: former City Manager\u00a0Oliver Chi, who left his position at Irvine last year after overseeing a string of head-scratching and costly real estate deals during his tenure here.<\/p>\n
Chi opposed the final proposed Live Nation deal that the city ultimately rejected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like a bully trying to take advantage of a less powerful entity,\u201d the NYT quoted Chi as saying in testimony. Among other threats, Chi also stated that Live Nation said, \u201cWe\u2019ll go after your job if you don\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chi now serves as City Manager for Santa Monica. A permanent, 10,000-seat venue for the city is set to break ground in 2028.<\/p>\n
A federal jury in New York last week found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operated as a monopoly that overcharged ticket buyers and harmed consumers. Litigation in the case is ongoing, and appeals are expected.<\/p>\n
The NYT\u2019s story came with bemusing art. Along with a flattering portrait of Chi, it included photos intended to imply Irvine, one of SoCal\u2019 main economic hubs and the state\u2019s fastest-growing large city, had turned into a barren ghost town because of the scuttled deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orange County is well-represented in the latest edition of\u00a0Forbes, which compiled its list of \u201cthe 250 greatest living…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-277066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}