Fountain Valley’s Wealthy 25

Fountain Valley’s Wealthy 25

By Joseph Nguyen

The cities motto is “A nice place to live”. If the 405 freeway didn’t dissect the city no one would even know the little bedroom community existed. Or would they? As unlikely as it is the little town with a population of just over 50,000 has been a wealth incubator unlike other city its size. Below are the top 25 fortunes with ties to Fountain Valley.

1a. David Sun: $5.7 Billion. Entrepreneur. Sun and David Tu (see #1b) are the cofounders of Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology. The two built Kingston before selling to Softbank for $1.5 billion only to buy it back for $450 million 3 years later. Today Kingston is the largest privately held computer memory firm. Sun is a Taiwanese immigrant who met partner Tu in a pick-up adult basketball league. Prior to founding Kingston Technologies Sun and Tu were stock market investors whom lost nearly everything in the crash of 1987.

1b. John Tu: $5.7 Billion. Entrepreneur. Tu studied electrical engineering in Germany after his family fled from China in 1949. Co-founded Kingston Technology with David Sun (see#1a) in 1987. Tu and Sun also started memory-chip outfit Camintonn in 1982, sold 4 years later for $6 million most of which was lost in the stock market crash of 1987. Tu is a drum player and has a band.

3. Sakioka Family: $650 Million. Farming and Real Estate. Roy Sakioka died in 1995, but the tenant farmer amassed a fortune in Orange County real estate. The family’s holdings include South Park, the land under the industrial park in Fountain Valley that is home to Costco and the family owns numerous farm and Nursery acres in Fountain Valley. In 1991 Forbes valued Sakioka’s real estate holdings at $325 million, and Orange County real estate has conservatively doubled since 1991.

4. Michelle Pfeiffer: $145 Million. Actress. Pfeiffer grew up in Midway City but attended Fountain Valley High School graduating in 1976. People Magazine ranked Pfeiffer as the world’s highest earning actress with combined roles earning her over $80 million. In addition to acting Pfeiffer has done very well with her endorsements which include Cover Girl and her investment portfolio which includes real estate holdings, a restaurant, a professional soccer team and her own line of cosmetics and vodka.

5. Jeff Kelley: $120 Million. Apparel Entrepreneur. Jeff Kelley graduated Fountain Valley High School in 1977. Kelley founded Sanuk footwear and in 2011 sold out to Decker for $120 million plus earn outs. Kelley is now involved in a tea company he refers to as a billion dollar venture.

6. Bob Hurley: $100 Million. Apparel Entrepreneur. Bob Hurley graduated Fountain Valley High School in 1975. Hurley is the founder of Hurley surf accessories and clothing and the original driving force behind Billabong. Hurley started the company out of his parents Fountain Valley garage shaping surfboards. Hurley sold out to Nike in 2002 for an estimated $90 million but remained with the company.

7. Richard Eamer, Leonard Cohen and John Bedrosian: $95 Million. Tenet Health Care. The group started Tenet Health Care the parent company of Fountain Valley Hospital. Eamer died in May of 2016.

8. Barry Migliorini: $80 Million. Consultant. Barry Migliorini graduated Fountain Valley High School in 1984. In 2016 the NY Times reported Migliorini received a consulting fee of $48 million from American Housing Income Trust. Edgar.gov shows additional consulting contracts with Aethlon Medical, Crown Marketing and Precision Trim. In total Migliorini’s public stock holdings top $80 million.

9. Donald Slager: $79 Million. President and CEO Republic Services. Donald Slager heads the company better known as Rainbow Disposal. Republic Services has ever-green contracts with Fountain Valley and dozens of other cities and counties making Slager one of the most influential men in the country. His 1.2 million shares currently trade at $68 per share.

10a. Jerry Moffatt: $39 Million. Trash Services. After purchasing Rainbow disposal out of the company’s cash flow from Stan Tkaczyk and Jim Brownell in 2011, Moffatt along with Jeff Snow (See 10b) sold Rainbow Disposal to Republic Services in October of 2014 for $112 million in cash. Both individuals still remain with the company.

10b. Jeff Snow: $39 Million. Trash Services. (see 10a)

12. CJ Wilson: $37 Million. Professional Athlete. CJ Wilson graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1998. Celebrity Net Worth puts Wilsons post baseball net worth at $37 million. Wilson was a major league pitcher for 11 seasons with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels. Wilson’s career baseball earnings topped $88 million. Wilson is currently racecar driver and owns automobile dealerships.

13. Dr. John Mathews: $35 million. Co-Founder Surefire. Dr. John Matthews is a Founder of Fountain Valley based SureFire, LLC (Formerly Known as Laser Products) and also serves as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Matthews founded the Newport Corporation to harness the power of the laser for industrial applications in 1969. His work led to the development of laser sights for firearms, and a new business-Laser Products-was born. Glassdoor puts Surefires revenue at $100-$500 million so $25 million is an extremely conservative estimate for a founder that is still a shareholder.

14. Frank and Donna DeGelas: $25 Million. Owner Mike Thompson RV. Frank and Donna Degelas have increased their net worth as much by appreciation of their freeway front real-estate as they have from selling motor homes.

15. Hisashi Uryu: $20 Million. CEO of Noritz America Corp. Hisashi Uryu, has left the Fountain Valley location where he served as COO, to return to the parent company in Japan to serve as an officer for Noritz Corp parent company based in Kobe, Japan.

15b. Peter Hauk: $15 million. Co-Founder Surefire.

15c. Ed Reynolds: $15 Million. Co-Founder Surefire

15d. Stan Tkaczyk: $15 Million. Sold Rainbow Disposal

15e. Jim Brownell: $15 Million. Sold Rainbow Disposal

20. Brian Van Holt: $12 Million. Actor

21. Chris Tillman: $8.5 Million. Professional Baseball

22. Keri Russell: $8 Million. Actress

23. Casey Janssen: $7 Million. Professional Baseball

24. Tim Katz: $6.3 Million. Founder Tap Out.

25. Candie Kung: $4.9 Million. LPGA Golfer

All net worth figures are estimates based on public information that was believed to be accurate but cannot be guaranteed.

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