With the floor to make the Business Journal’s list of 50 richest Angelenos increasing to $760 million this year, plenty of multi-millionaires were left off the list including several notable names.
A few dropped off, such as former Disney head Michael Eisner, (No. 50 last year), with an estimated net worth of $690 million; and real estate developer Guilford Glaser (No. 44 last year), whose estimated $750 million just missed the cut.
Marcy Carsey (No. 49 last year) didn’t make it either. The producer of the “Cosby Show,” and co-founder of women’s cable channel Oxygen network has remained one of Hollywood’s most powerful women, though her approximate $660 million fortune wasn’t enough to place her on this year’s list.
Some fortunes are hard to pin down. Earvin “Magic” Johnson, former Lakers star and head of Magic Johnson Enterprises, might be a candidate for the list, but his closely held company does not reveal financial information. The only Starbuck’s franchisee in the country, Johnson has focused on revitalizing inner-city neighborhoods by bringing in retail stores, cafes and banks.
Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, also has wealth that’s difficult to assess. He sold the Motown catalog to EMI Group for about $300 million.
Likewise, financial advisor Mark Attanasio, a managing director of TCW Group, might be a candidate to join colleague and founder Robert Addison Day Jr. on the list. Attanasio bought the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team for about $220 million in 2004.
Founder of the now-ubiquitous 99 Cent Stores, David Gold, dropped off the list as the chain faltered. Despite a store in almost every neighborhood, the stock’s been in steady decline for the past three years due to disappointing earnings, a class-action lawsuit over wages, and restatements of financials. Gold’s estimated net worth hovers below $300 million.
One of the cruel realities of Hollywood is that, despite their enormous pay, actors seldom amass the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary to be one of the wealthiest Angelenos. The surly Jack Nicholson is one possible candidate, if only because of his significant art collection, although any appraisal has not been publicly revealed. The actor also receives 20 percent of all Batman revenues as part of his contract for playing The Joker in the 1989 first movie in the successful franchise.
