San Diegans on the 400 Richest List

San Diego’s wealthiest citizens--and a few rich people with ties to San Diego--for the most part grew even richer during the past year, according to Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the nation’s 400 wealthiest citizens released Monday.

La Jolla resident Joan Kroc, 59, owner of the San Diego Padres baseball club and widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, is the 49th wealthiest U.S. citizen, with an estimated net worth of $1 billion, according to the magazine. Last year, Forbes placed her net worth at $640 million.

Kroc recently made headlines with a $1 million donation to the Democratic Party. A Kroc spokesman was not available for comment on Monday.

Copley Newspapers Publisher Helen Copley, 64, another La Jollan, has an estimated net worth of $550 million, up from the $450 million estimate included in last year’s list. Newspapers owned by Copley Newspapers include the San Diego Union and Tribune.

Publishing also has generated wealth for Rancho Santa Fe resident Robert Staples Howard, 62, who has an estimated net worth of $400 million. Howard Publications publishes several small daily newspapers in the United States. Last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $250 million.

La Jolla resident Margaret Cargill, 67, whose family owns Cargill, one of the world’s largest grain-trading firms, has an estimated net worth of $330 million. Forbes in 1986 estimated her net worth at about $315 million.

Price Back on List

Forbes’ list suggests that Price Co. founder Sol Price, 71, has a net worth of $325 million. Price failed to make the 1986 list but the magazine’s 1985 list estimated his net worth at $200 million. Price, a La Jolla resident, also founded the now-defunct FedMart discount stores.

San Diego resident M. Larry Lawrence, 61, a developer and chairman of the Hotel del Coronado, has an estimated net worth of $250 million, according to Forbes. Last year the magazine estimated his worth at $180 million.

Developer Ernest Hahn failed to make the 1987 listing. Hahn, whose firm built Horton Plaza, was worth about $300 million in 1986, according to Forbes.

According to the survey, just 14% of the nation’s 400 wealthiest citizens are female. In San Diego, however, three of the county’s six wealthiest citizens are women.

Alex Spanos, 64, a Stockton resident and the owner of the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League, has an estimated net worth of $500 million, up from $200 million on last year’s list.

Troubled financier Ivan Boesky, who had an estimated net worth of about $200 million, fell off the list entirely, largely to legal problems that forced him to divest holdings. Boesky had served as chairman of San Diego-based Northview Corp. prior to pleading guilty in 1987 to securities law violations.

A personal net worth of at least $225 million was needed to make the 1987 list.