WHO IS GEORGE ARGYROS?

The Newport Beach resident is 50 years old and married, with 3 children.

He graduated in 1959 from Chapman College in Orange and has been chairman of the board of the 2,000-student liberal arts college for 11 years. He is credited with guiding the college through a rocky financial period in the 1970s.

A self-made multimillionaire, he started investing in real estate in 1962 with a $1,200 loan. He made most of his money through real estate development by his Costa Mesa-based company, Arnel Development Company & Affiliates, which has constructed nearly 5,000 apartment units and nearly 700,000 square feet of commercial office space, mainly in Orange County. Arnel is now developing Metro Pointe, a 53-acre tract in Costa Mesa near South Coast Plaza on prime real estate. It is to include commercial office space, apartments, hotels and mid-rise office buildings.

In November, he sold his majority interest in AirCal airlines, the last major piece of the collapsed empire of San Diego financier C. Arnholt Smith, for an estimated $30-million gain.

Since 1981, he has owned the Seattle Mariners American League baseball team, which he purchased for $13 million.

Argyros is an avid sportsman, whose games include tennis, golf and skiing. He is known for his philanthropy and his participation in civic affairs, and he has been involved in numerous state and national educational organizations.