REPORT: RICHEST ANGELENO IS WORTH MORE THAN $9 BILLION
NBC4.TV, CA
May 15 2006
LOS ANGELES — The richest man in Los Angeles is self-made investor
Kirk Kerkorian, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s annual
list of the 50 wealthiest Angelenos, which hits newsstands Monday.
Kerkorian is worth an estimated $9.3 billion, according to the
publication.
Born in 1917 in Fresno to Armenian immigrants, Kerkorian, who never
attended college, made billions in investments in Las Vegas casinos,
airlines, and MGM studios — which he later sold.
Last year’s richest Angeleno, media mogul Sumner Redstone, saw his
estimated wealth dip from $8.3 billion to $7.4 billion, and his ranking
drop to second on this year’s list. The media mogul led the split of
CBS and Viacom, but both companies’ stock later dropped.
Barbara Davis and her family, heirs to the Marvin Davis oil fortune,
ranked third with $6 billion, the Business Journal reported.
In fourth place was Eli Broad with an estimated net worth of $5.6
billion. Broad has invested heavily in revitalizing Los Angeles,
from revamping the Disney Concert Hall to proposing a $1.8 billion
makeover of Bunker Hill nearby.
Although rising real estate prices may be hurting California
homebuyers, they benefitted John Shea, a residential and commercial
developer and financier whose fortune rose 25 percent to $3 billion.
Shea’s real estate gains earned him the 12th spot.
Drooping revenues at the box office have sunk the fortunes of some
of those in Hollywood.
DreamWorks Animation SKG head Jeffrey Katzenberg’s wealth saw a 9
percent decrease, putting him in 45th place with $859 million. Steven
Spielberg, at No. 14, managed to stave off major losse3. His wealth
climbed 8 percent, to $2.8 billion, largely because the movie director
branched into video games.
The only actor to make the list was Mel Gibson, who came in at No.
47, with an estimated worth of $850 million.
Everyone on this year’s list was worth at least $760 million, which
is how much the Business Journal estimated investor Robert Peterson
was worth. That’s nearly $140 million more than it took to be No. 50
last year when former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner brought up
the rear.