‘90s Haven’t Been Especially Kind to Some of O.C.’s Rich Residents : Wealth: Real estate millionaires William Lyon and George Argyros drop out of Forbes 400, but Donald Bren still heads the list for the county.
For Orange County’s wealthiest people, especially those who profited from the real estate boom of the 1980s, events of the ‘90s are not necessarily fortuitous.
When Forbes magazine on Monday released its list of the 400 richest people in America, some Orange County residents were conspicuous by their absences.
Declining real estate values bumped two well-known millionaires off the list, for which the cutoff point is $265 million. Gone are local developer William Lyon, 70, who ranked No. 295 last year with a net worth of $350 million; and George Argyros, 55, chairman of Arnel Development, who ranked No. 382 last year with a net worth of $290 million.
In fact, there are only five residents on the list this year--three by inheritance of family wealth--compared with eight last year.
The bleak real estate picture didn’t keep Irvine Co. Chairman Donald L. Bren, 60, from once again ranking first among all Orange County residents, however. Bren, the county’s only billionaire, even added $2 million to his net worth to reach $1.3 billion. His rank: 45th, up from 57th last year. He also made Fortune’s list of billionaires last month, but at that time the magazine estimated his wealth at $1.9 billion.
Some other real estate wizards also managed to move higher on the list. One is Roy Sakioka, a 93-year-old Japanese immigrant and Costa Mesa resident whose family fortune, made in farming and land holdings in Southern California, is now estimated at $350 million. The family, which owns an estimated 240 acres in Orange County and 2,600 acres in Ventura County, is worth $25 million more than last year, according to the magazine.
Others who remained among the elite 400, however, have seen their net worth decline. Richard J. O’Neill, 69, of San Juan Capistrano, who helped develop Rancho Santa Margarita, ranked No. 389 this year with an estimated $275 million, including a hefty inheritance. Yet that was $25 million less than last year. (His sister, Alice O’Neill Avery, 75, of Los Angeles, also made the new list, with a net worth of $275 million.)
Two other descendants of wealthy families are among the Orange County five. Anne Catherine Getty Earhart, 40, and Claire Eugenia Getty Perry, 38, are both included, each with a reported net worth of $380 million. They are granddaughters of Getty Oil founder J. Paul Getty.
Gene Autry once again made the list, with a $315-million net worth. But the 85-year-old California Angels owner lives in Los Angeles, not Anaheim, and Forbes traces his fortune not to sports or to singing-cowboy movies, but to broadcasting.
Among those dropped from this year’s list is James D. Slavik, 40, of Irvine, who last year ranked No. 293 with a net worth of $350 million. He is a director of the W.W. Grainger Co. of Skokie, Ill., a maker of electrical equipment.
Harry H. Hoiles, one of the owners of Freedom Newspapers, which publishes the Orange County Register, made the list last year as a resident of Santa Ana. He is included among the 400 this year but now as a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo. A Freedom spokesman said Monday that Hoiles has lived in Colorado “for several years.”
This year Hoiles, 76, is tied for No. 283. He and his sister, Mary Jane Hoiles Hardie, 70, of Marysville, Calif., are reported as being worth $360 million each.
Capital Gains
Five people who call Orange County home made it to Forbes magazine’s latest list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. And three of them achieved their status the old-fashioned way: They inherited it. (Net worth, in millions of dollars)
Name Residence Age Worth Source of wealth Donald L. Bren Newport Beach 60 $1,300 Real estate Anne C. Getty Earhart Laguna Beach 40 380 Oil inheritance Claire E. Getty Perry Laguna Beach 38 380 Oil inheritance Roy Sakioka Costa Mesa 93 350 Real estate Richard J. O’Neill San Juan Capistrano 69 275 Real estate inheritance
Source: Forbes magazine
