Birds of a feather flock together, as the saying goes, and that’s certainly true of the L.A. flock that holds the most golden eggs.
A look at the city’s wealthiest shows that not only are many of them connected through business activities, but many pal around socially as well.
Billionaire Eli Broad, No. 2 on this year’s richest list, is known as one of the central members of a loosely knit group of politically active L.A. power brokers that includes TV magnate A. Jerrold Perenchio, telecom investor Gary Winnick and grocery tycoon Ronald Burkle.
Billionaires Franklin Otis Booth Jr. and Charles Munger, longtime associates of Warren Buffett in the Berkshire Hathaway investment empire, also are longtime fishing buddies. Publishing mogul Robert Petersen and hotelier Barron Hilton, both avid outdoorsmen, have for decades gone on hunting trips together.
To Booth, whose association with Munger goes back to the early ’60s, such relationships frequently are developed “as a function of occupation.”
“I don’t think anyone says, ‘We’re both worth a lot of money, let’s be friends,'” said Booth, a member of the Otis family that founded the Los Angeles Times.
“It’s generally people you work with, people in the same profession as you, or someone you have ties with professionally. That’s how it usually starts,” Booth said. “It’s no different for people like me than it is for anyone else in any profession who has friends that resulted from their job.”
That seems like a logical explanation for the friendship between DreamWorks SKG co-founders Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who have been hanging out courtside at the Lakers home games during the team’s current championship run.
And even those who never have been employed by the same company, like Burkle and financier Michael Milken, have become friends through business dealings together. Burkle, who made his fortune largely through the help of Milken, was reportedly a chief sponsor of Milken’s failed pardon request to then-President Clinton.
Building on civic ties
Broad, an active philanthropist who sits on the boards of an impressive list of charitable and educational organizations, said that a sense of noblesse oblige among members of the well-heeled leads to civic involvement that can develop personal relationships.
“I think maybe it’s because many of us have similar interests in improving education, improving the arts, improving health care,” said Broad, who counts among his friends “Richest Angelenos” members Robert Addison Day Jr., Marvin Davis and Perenchio, as well as Orange County billionaire Donald Bren. Broad also has a longstanding friendship with Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
“As a result of common civic interest, we wind up working together on these things, and that can spill over into friendship,” Broad said.
Kathy Schloessman, who as president of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission often deals with L.A.’s wealthiest in their civic involvements, believes many of them mingle because they have common traits.
“When you’re around some of them, you understand how they can end up being attracted to each other,” Schloessman said. “The majority are type-A personalities who also are brilliant people. They are interested in people like themselves fast thinkers who know how to move fast to get something done. One of the best parts of my job is meeting these people. They’re fascinating to me, so I’m sure they can be fascinating to each other.”
Dr. Ken Sereno, a psychologist who is associate professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication, agrees.
“The main reason why people who run around with each other do so is because they are comfortable with each other,” Sereno said. “We tend to trust people who are like us, who have the same motivations. When it comes to important issues, people with similar interests are attracted to each other.
“The saying ‘opposites attract’ can be true when it comes to personalities; for instance, if someone is naturally shy, they may be attracted to someone who is outgoing, and vice versa. But opposites aren’t as likely to attract when it comes to what drives you professionally, or in other things you consider important.”
Sharing Experiences
Clinical psychologist Rex J. Beaber offers a slightly different view.
“It’s true that wealthy people tend to be unusually creative about finding opportunity and moving to take advantage of that opportunity,” said Beaber, a former professor at UCLA who now is a practicing attorney. “They like to be around other people like that. It’s exciting to them, and I think they like to share the excitement of identifying opportunity and getting even more money as part of a drive to succeed that they share. Getting rich, or richer, with someone is a very good way to build a relationship.
“That being said, I think there’s another reason why (the rich often run in the same circles),” Beaber said. “It would be hard to get them to admit it, but I think a lot of very rich people have a fear of being used by people only interested in their money.”
