“I like to watch the close of the market,” he said in his soft voice, with a gentle smile on his face.

As soon as we had ordered our Arnold Palmers, I asked for his recommendations on the menu.

“Try a little cup of the chicken tortilla soup,” he said, ordering a small Asian chicken salad.

We were lunching to talk about his upcoming guest op-ed column for the Business Journal, a feature called the Leader Board, which I edit. Dick’s piece was scheduled for the May 27 issue highlighting Orange County’s 50 most noteworthy donors in the nonprofit world.

A list Dick easily made, having given $50 million to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian last November, to create the Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health, on top of his earlier $15 million gift to create Hoag’s Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute.

Dick built his wealth from early bets on companies such as International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT), a stock he was still holding after 40 years. His favorite sport, he was telling me, was golf, obviously relishing his record of more than 100 rounds or so with legendary investor, Bill Gross, nicknamed the “Bond King.”

So, our lunch went on, until there was a sudden silence. Dick was still smiling, so I waited, figuring he was gathering his thoughts for another fond reminiscence. But then, he leaned to his right side. I reached out, grasping his hand to comfort him, but I knew he needed more.

I called the waiters.

Someone called an ambulance.

I kept his hand in mine, tightly.

His mouth wasn’t moving, but his deep blue eyes were darting around anxiously.
I tried to comfort him.

“We’ll continue our conversation on another day,” I said.

Fireman paramedics arrived at the table within five minutes to­ carry him away on a stretcher to head for Hoag Hospital.

Shaken, I collected myself and returned to our newsroom. I had work, but my mind was on Dick.

Eventually, I received word from a family member that Dick had suffered a stroke.

The next day, April 25, Dick, surrounded by his family, died at 2 a.m.

The Business Journal still had its entire op-ed page waiting for Dick. It belonged to him on May 27, we felt, and we wanted it to stay that way.

His family agreed to help us use it to remember his life.

In the meantime, what follows is their obituary.

A Good Friend

“Dick was a good friend,” Bill Gross told the Business Journal, following Richard “Dick” Pickup’s death.

“He never failed to ask about markets that he didn’t know—I hope I didn’t lead him astray on bonds!!!” said Gross, often called the “Bond King.”

“Dick’s brilliance was best exemplified by his guts to invest in Newport Beach Country Club and Balboa Bay Club around the ripe old age of 80. Not easily done in my opinion. He had a brilliant ability to sense value and to rework old-fashioned properties into modern ones that benefited his family financially and society as a whole.”

Richard ‘Dick’ Pickup
January 11, 1934 – April 25, 2024

Richard “Dick” Pickup, a generous philanthropist, studied investor and patriarch of the family stewarding such landmarks as the Newport Beach Country Club and Balboa Bay Resort & Club, died unexpectedly on April 25, 2024.

Widely known for his tireless work ethic and keen investment prowess, Dick had spent the morning of April 24 at his Newport Beach office, engaged in some of his favorite endeavors—finalizing the terms of a new charitable gift, trading stocks and reviewing a potential new deal—before visiting Newport Beach Country Club, which he and his family so lovingly transformed, and then suffering a stroke that led to his death.

Born and raised in Whittier, Dick moved to Newport Beach in the 1960s. There, he raised his family, became a successful stockbroker and private investor in small and midcap public companies, and spent as much time swinging a golf club as his busy schedule permitted.

Dick’s investment achievements allowed him to engage in transformational philanthropy for the betterment of Orange County, Coachella Valley and beyond. Most notably, Dick recently made a $50 million gift to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian to create the Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health, after a previous $15 million gift that created the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute.

These significant gifts have laid the groundwork for revolutionary brain healthcare and treatment in Orange County. Dick’s philanthropic initiatives have instilled in his children and grandchildren the same charitable zeal, leaving a legacy of giving and helping others for generations to come.

At the dedication of the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag in 2019, Dick wisely stated: “For years I heard my pastor, Dr. Huffman, say, ‘Don’t just give until it hurts; instead, give until it feels good.’ It has taken me some time to really get with this program.

But now in the last two decades, I have learned the reality of what it means to be blessed and to be a blessing to others. Let me assure you that this feels good to me. What we are now doing for others is the highest form of investment I have ever made and some of the best money I have ever spent.

And I know that this will continue to bear rich dividends for others long after I am no longer here.”

Dick also served as the visionary mentor in business to his son, Todd, and son-in-law, Kevin Martin, who co-founded Eagle Four Partners, a Newport Beach-based private equity group specializing in strategic hospitality, golf, lifestyle residential and sports entertainment investments, with such other notable local properties as Pendry Newport Beach, Vea Newport Beach and the Ritz-Carlton Residences Newport Beach currently in development.
Dick will be greatly missed by those who mourn his passing from this life to eternity,

including his wife, Donna; his children, Devon (Kevin) and Todd (Natalie); their mother, Carole; and his grandchildren, Makena Martin, Maddie Martin, Ryan Martin, Max Pickup and Neil Pickup; as well as the entire Eagle Four team, his business partners and many friends.

A memorial service was held on May 1. In loving celebration of the life of Dick, the family has established a memorial tribute fund in support of Hoag’s Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health. Richard was a visionary philanthropist whose acts of generosity have left a transformational legacy at Hoag and throughout the Orange County community.

To make an online donation, please visit www.hoaghospitalfoundation.org/richard-pickup-tribute.html. Gifts may also be mailed to the Hoag Hospital Foundation at 330 Placentia Ave., Newport Beach, CA 92663. Please include a memo indicating “Richard H. Pickup” so gifts can be directed to the fund in support of the Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health.

We are forever grateful.

The post Richard ‘Dick’ Pickup Dies at Age 90 appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The most recent legal win by Knobbe Martens partners Joseph Re and Steve Jensen created front-page coverage for their client Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI) in the Wall Street Journal and other national publications.

Their victory against the world’s most valuable publicly traded company forced Apple Inc. to halt imports of its watches in the patent dispute, albeit briefly. That ban, which took effect Dec. 26, is temporarily on hold while a federal appeals court studies the ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

“We’re fighting a very large company with very endless resources to fight with lawyers,” Jensen told the Business Journal.

“Every day” the case feels like the plucky biblical David battling the giant Goliath, he said.
Masimo’s victory at the ITC, announced in October, was the latest for the pair in representing the Irvine-based medical device maker over the past three decades in a variety of intellectual property, trade theft and patent disputes.

They were the winning lawyers for Masimo in a case that caused Royal Philips Electronics to pay $300 million in 2016 and opened a licensing agreement between the two companies.
The pair in 2006 helped Masimo win hundreds of millions of dollars against its then-primary rival, Nellcor, now a unit of Medtronic.

That case paved the way for Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) to go public in 2007, where it now sports a nearly $6 billion market cap.

“The very existence of Masimo was riding on the Nellcor litigation, so that is an inflection point of success for patients worldwide having access to Masimo’s life-saving technology,” Jensen said in November.

“I would argue that our win there has saved many thousands of lives, prevented blindness in many thousands of babies, and saved billions of healthcare dollars, and led to further innovations from Masimo that no other company has matched. That is pretty hard to beat,” according to Jensen.

The Apple deal could prove just as important; the Wall Street Journal said Masimo CEO Joe Kiani “bet his company” on the Apple dispute, which is being battled in a variety of jurisdictions.

Still ongoing is a civil lawsuit seeking $1.85 billion from Apple, a case that resulted in a mistrial last May and is rescheduled for the fall.

Re and Jensen are the Business Journal’s Businesspeople of the Year, in the legal sector.

Engineering Background

The pair are longtime partners at Knobbe Martens, which consistently ranks as the biggest Orange County law firm on the Business Journal’s annual list with 141 OC lawyers and 284 firmwide.

Re earned a degree in civil engineering in 1982 from New Jersey’s Rutgers University where he was selected by the student body to deliver its commencement address. Three years later, he earned a law degree from New York’s St. John’s University.

He spent two years as a clerk for Howards Markey, then chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

He joined Knobbe Martens in 1987, becoming famous for trying numerous high-stakes technology cases in the federal courts throughout the country for well over 30 years. He’s won several awards over the years, such as The California Lawyer in 2004 naming him “California Attorney of the Year” and Law360 website calling him “MVP of the Year – Intellectual Property” in 2014.

Re has served as president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Federal Circuit Bar Association. Since 1990, Re has authored numerous appellate briefs on behalf of the American Intellectual Property Law Association as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court and various appellate courts.

In 1990, Re recruited Jensen to join Knobbe Martens.

“Steve joined the firm when I was already a partner,” Re said. “If you think Steve’s a dinosaur, wait till you get a load of me.”

Jensen, who worked on wireless and radar systems for Hughes Aircraft while a college student in 1984, earned a degree in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University in 1987 before getting a JD from UCLA in 1990.

Jensen is “fluent” in technologies like semiconductors, optics and solid-state cooling, according to his profile on Knobbe Martens’ website.

For a time, he even was acting senior vice president of Masimo’s OEM business where he negotiated a variety of transactions.

While the Masimo dispute gathers most of the attention, both lawyers made it clear they’re handling plenty of other legal matters as well. For example, Re does some work for Amazon.

“I defend them when people accuse them of taking things,” Re said. “I understand what it’s like to represent a big company.”

The pair said while they are the faces of the lawsuits, their team involves 20 to 25 people. Both lawyers spend time mentoring younger colleagues and teaching them the kind of patience and skills that litigators need.

“Supervising and mentoring younger lawyers is a big part of what we do,” Re said.
They like helping innovators.

“The best experience I’ve had is getting to know very talented innovators and company founders, and helping them to reach their goals,” Jensen said. “To me, it’s rewarding that things that my clients have invented are improving patients’ lives, are improving healthcare, and are improving people’s lives in general.

“I’m doing things that frankly I enjoy doing.”

Biggest Case

Masimo’s Kiani, who co-founded the company in 1989, said he’s spending more than $100 million on legal fees to defend the company’s technology against Apple.

The dispute dates to 2013 when Apple initially sought to work with Masimo on its pulse oximetry technology. Instead, Apple pulled out of that collaboration and then poached more than 20 of Masimo’s and its spinoff Cercacor’s employees. In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Kiani said Apple employees are working in unmarked buildings a few blocks away from Masimo’s Irvine headquarters.

In 2020, Masimo alleges that it discovered Apple took its technology for its watches, and the lawsuits began.

In October, the ITC ruled that some Apple watches violated Masimo’s patents by swiping technology used to measure oxygen levels in wearers’ blood streams. The ITC decision could have been reversed within 60 days by President Joe Biden, a friend of Kiani’s.

Biden delegated the decision to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who declined to stop the ban.

A day after the ban on Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches took effect on Dec. 26, a federal appeals court permitted Apple to continue its imports while giving the ITC until Jan. 10 to respond to Apple’s request.

“This was merely an interim stay while the parties brief and the federal circuit (court of appeals) decided the stay pending appeal,” Jensen said.

“Such interim stays are common.”

Jensen told the Business Journal that sometime after Jan. 15, the federal appeals court will decide on Apple’s request to stay the watch ban pending appeal. Separately, according to Apple, U.S. customs officials have reportedly set a target date of Jan. 12 to determine whether Apple’s redesigned watches conform with the rulings on imports.

“As the elder litigators, we are used to the ride,” said Jensen, who like Re, is in his 60s.

Santa Ana

In a separate case in a Santa Ana federal court, Masimo sued Apple for $1.85 billion. After a four-week trial at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana, the jury was hung and a mistrial declared in May.

“That’s set for retrial in late October 2024,” Jensen told the Business Journal last month. “I’m optimistic about that one.”

Apple has countersued Masimo in Delaware, a case that is expected to begin next spring.
Re and Jensen say they are in it for the long haul.

“I’m going to see this through,” said Jensen, who once thought of retiring by age 60.  “I crossed the 60 mark, and I didn’t make it to retirement.”

His law partner Re agreed.

“I don’t plan on stopping until this is all resolved,” Re said before the interim stay. “I don’t mind if I have grandchildren and this is still going on.”

The post Knobbe’s Re, Jensen: Leading Masimo Charge vs. Apple appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

“We want to see what 2024 looks like with regards to the IPO market,” Jones told the Business Journal during an interview at his office near the Irvine Marketplace shopping center, just off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway.

“In 2022, we reserved our name on the New York Stock Exchange and prepared an S-1 filing, but we pulled it given where the IPO market was at that time. Maybe 2025 or 2026.”

If it does go public soon, Allied expects to be valued around $20 billion. Today, such a valuation would make it the third-largest publicly traded company headquartered in Orange County, behind restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) and heart stent maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW).

It would mark the largest IPO for an OC-based firm since electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: RIVN) went public at the end of 2021. The Irvine-based EV maker currently has a market cap of around $18 billion, but often sees fluctuations that push its valuation higher.

Employee Giant

Going public would be the culmination of Jones’ 28-year career at Allied, where he transformed a small security firm then generating $12 million in 1996 to a behemoth with $20.5 billion in sales and more than 800,000 employees, making it the world’s seventh- largest private company.

It now provides protection in more than 100 countries, including war-torn Ukraine and Israel; his guards can be found throughout Southern California, from the Irvine Spectrum to the recent Rose Bowl game that hosted the collegiate semifinals.

The Business Journal awarded him with a Businessperson of the Year designation for 2019 and an Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award in 2020. Allied’s grown substantially larger since then.

“I’m very proud of the company’s rise to the rank of global leader through strong organic growth and strategic acquisitions over the past 13 years,” Jones said.

“We have been highly successful in bringing great organizations and their talented people onto the Allied Universal team and creating a very special organization that leads the world in providing security services.”

WM Roll-up Strategy

Jones has grown through organic growth and acquisitions, admiring how Waste Management Inc. grew by rolling up competitors around the U.S. and streamlining procedures such as hiring and training.

In December, Allied made its 100th and 101st acquisitions: Seattle-based Star Protection Services, the largest privately owned security company in the Pacific Northwest with six branches, and Costa Mesa’s Nordic Security Services, where Jones has known owner Peter Jensen for more than a decade.

Allied typically makes around a dozen acquisitions annually. However, with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, Allied last year only completed five out of the 50 to 60 companies it studied.

“We’re being much pickier with regards to the deals we’re doing,” Jones said. “It has to be the right deal strategically for us.”

It’s looking to expand in specialty areas, like event services, which provide security at concerts and arenas. While Allied is in more than 100 countries, there are still some big countries where it doesn’t have operations, like France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
“Those are very large markets with a tremendous opportunity.”

He’s expecting the pace of acquisition to pick up this year as his investors, who he describes as some of the world’s largest banks, are predicting the Federal Reserve will lower rates about 75 basis points in 2024.

$25B Goal

Jones’ biggest acquisition by far was the 2021 purchase for $5.1 billion of London-based G4S PLC, which resulted in his company’s revenue more than doubling to $18 billion.
Since then, he’s added more than $2 billion in annual sales and is still aiming for $25 billion in the coming years.

“$25 billion is still the goal. We may be a year or two behind, but not much.”
When it goes public, he wants investors to view Allied Universal as “a comprehensive security solutions provider.”

Jones points to a worldwide increase in criminal activities as well as civil and social protests. His employees must manage the aftermaths of natural disasters when chaos ensues.

He has a technology division that generates about $1.7 billion in sales by monitoring security cameras, alarm systems and entry gates. It also monitors social media websites and alerts customers to pending protests near their stores or buildings.

“Every morning, we know where there will be protests,” Jones said. “We can tell our clients if there will be a protest by their facilities.”

In North America, the need for businesses to protect themselves is soaring, due to understaffed law enforcement agencies that spend larger portions of their time tackling issues like homelessness, and shoplifting crimes that have been decriminalized.

An active shooting incident is occurring once a day in the U.S., he said. One of his units has grown to 3,500 dogs trained to detect weapons. In a recent quarter, its dogs identified 4,000 different guns, which Jones said “prevented bad things from happening.”

“All these things create the need for comprehensive security solutions. It’s not just people at the door. It’s cameras. Controlling access. In some cases, it’s protection for the executives and employees.”

Jones knows investors won’t be as excited about Allied as an EV or Silicon Valley firm, so he sees a valuation for the company of around one times sales, or about $20 billion. While he’s not eager to make the quarterly earnings report every 90 days required of public companies, he says he already does so with its lenders. He expects organic growth in the mid-single digits, aided by acquisitions.

“We’ve proven with over 100 acquisitions that we can continue to acquire and scale this business,” Jones said.

“We’re not going to have the margin profile of the tech businesses. What we do have is we generate consistent cash flow very predictably. Our business is very steady and has consistent growth.”

He plans to stay in Irvine, noting his company recently signed a 10-year lease for the company’s current headquarters, which it moved into last year.
“We’re an Orange County company.”

What Security Executives Fear

Allied Universal constantly talks to executives in charge of security for their companies around the world.

Last year, it decided for the first time to release—on Sept. 11—its report to the public of its survey of 1,775 security offices. Revenue at the respondents’ companies is a combined $20 trillion, or about a quarter of the world’s total annual gross domestic product.

“It’s interesting reading,” Allied Universal CEO Steve Jones said. “It shows what chief security officers are worried about for their companies. “

The report helps security executives “pounding the table for more resources” from their boards, Jones said.

The report’s highlights:

• In 2022, more than $1 trillion was lost by companies due to internal and external physical security events. About 25% of publicly listed companies reported a drop in their corporate value in the last 12 months following an external or internal security event.
• Security budgets represent 3.3% of global revenue at the respondents’ companies, around $660 billion.
• 65% of respondents said their company currently uses predictive technology to enhance security and intends to increase it in the coming 12 months.
• 90% said cyber threats that threaten physical security systems are challenging operations.
• 89% said their company experienced some form of internal threat; 35% said misuse of company resources or data was the most common. About 36% cited leaking sensitive information.
• 42% consider artificial intelligence and AI-powered surveillance to be at the top of their future investment list in the next five years.

The post Allied Universal CEO Steve Jones Eyes IPO For Security Giant appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

“What we live for is to make great food and to do great marketing,” King told the Business Journal.

King was named CEO in 2019 following a turn as president at Adidas and a prior run as CEO of TaylorMade’s golf division.

When King began to lead the Irvine-based restaurant chain, annual sales ran about $11.8 billion. In 2023, sales could hit $15 billion; Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), reported systemwide sales of $14.6 billion for the chain in 2022. It counts an operating margin of about 36%, according to regulatory filings.

By sales, the chain is the largest restaurant chain based in Orange County, by a wide margin. No. 2 Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) reported $8.6 billion in sales in 2022.

The work of King—who stepped down from the CEO role at the end of 2023—over the past four years to boost sales at Taco Bell, while overcoming myriad challenges along the way, from pandemic-related pivots to a focus on digital sales and new restaurant models, earned him the Business Journal’s nod as Businessperson of the Year, in the restaurant sector.

Speedbumps, Scaling

King said that speed bumps never seem to go away when trying to scale up.

“For me, it’s a mindset of if we want to be flexible, if we want to be in search of new solutions, we can grow even during challenging times,” he said.

Taco Bell ended 2023 with over 8,300 restaurants compared to ending 2019 with more than 7,000. Its international sector surpassed 1,000 stores in 2022, aided by the growth of its global franchisees.

The taco chain also opened its first set of new restaurant models, including drive-thru only locations that lean heavily on digital and to-go orders.

In the last few years, “a lot of positive things happened, and I think it started with just the mindset of growing regardless” of difficulties, such as pandemic-mandated store closures across much of the country in 2020, King said.

“And that is the formula for growth in any company at any time.”

‘Move Faster’

As a longtime retail executive, King was known for making his previous companies more profitable, first as the CEO of Taylor Made-Adidas golf division and later doubling the market share for Adidas during his time as president of its North American segment.

“Mark King is the ideal executive to elevate Taco Bell to the next level of global growth,” said Yum Brands CEO David Gibbs at the time of his hiring.

King’s strategy for keeping Taco Bell at the top of the industry has been to “move faster.”
During his time at the company’s nearly 182,000-square-foot Irvine Spectrum headquarters along Glen Bell Way, his priorities were focused on driving innovation.

That was seen with the introduction of two new digital-focused restaurant models, one pitched by a 35-year franchise partner, to create faster drive-thru times.

King also thought to maintain cultural relevancy by establishing collaborations with influencers and celebrities, many proposed by the social media team, who were both “on the leading edge of culture” and “authentic fans of the food.”

In addition, the executive wanted to strengthen franchisee relationships, with both international groups who will continue the expansion abroad past 1,000 locations, and individuals spearheading the creation of new concepts such as Go Mobile and the cantinas.

King attributes many of these achievements to his team, which at the time included Taco Bell’s current CEO Sean Tresvant, who previously served as the company’s chief brand and strategy officer.

King announced his retirement last June and introduced Tresvant as his successor, who officially stepped into the role on Jan. 1 (see story, page 14).

“If you’re willing, as a leader, to unlock the potential of all the people within the system, great things happen,” King said.

What’s to Come

As for what the next era of Taco Bell looks like, King said an ongoing goal for the company is to gain a stronger global reach.

Taco Bell is anticipating to reach 10,000 restaurants in the coming years and to hit $20 billion in sales within this decade, largely through franchising.

King said that at the beginning of his time with the chain, he wanted to get the business outside of the United States up and running, but was sidelined by the pandemic.

Since the pandemic has waned, “we’ve opened more restaurants in the last two years internationally than we did 60 years prior to that,” King said.

“I think what you’ll find that Sean is going to focus on is becoming a global brand, and not just a U.S. one,” he said.

King added that there is still a lot of runway for Taco Bell to expand domestically as well.

“We’re kind of a niche brand when you think about our food, our offerings and our consumer base,” he said. “I’m just so excited for Sean, but more excited for the people of Taco Bell.”

The Giving Heart

Mark King isn’t completely leaving Taco Bell behind him; he remains on the Taco Bell Foundation board.

“The culture of Taco Bell is to give back,” he said.

The foundation has focused on the education and workforce development of high school and college-age students, especially Taco Bell employees, since 1992. The nonprofit has impacted more than 4 million young people in the U.S.

In 2023, the foundation awarded 980 students more than $10 million in Live Más scholarships for the first time since the program’s introduction.

It hosted a new event, called the Ambition Accelerator, in 2022 to award funds to high school and college-aged people who pitched various nonprofit, philanthropic and community projects to launch.

The Taco Bell Foundation also raised an additional $15 million to support around 450 charities in 2023.

The organization, led by Executive Director Jennifer Bradbury, has a goal to become a $100 million foundation to continue these efforts.

“I think I leave more inspired by the giving heart of Taco Bell,” King said.

The post Mark King Passes the Taco Bell Torch, After Ramping Up Sales to Nearly $15B appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

With a 30-year executive career to his credit, Verma will provide guidance through the next phase of growth, the identity-based internet authentication company said. 

Verma’s resume includes an executive position at Lockheed Martin.  

After leaving Lockheed Martin, Verma was appointed CEO of 8×8, Inc. in 2013, and served in that role until December of 2020.  

SecureAuth counted more than 600 clients as of last year. It enables secure and passwordless authentication for employees, partners and customers.

The post SecureAuth Names Vikram Verma New Chairman appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

Each represents a merger the VP of corporate development, financial planning and analysis has led for Irvine-based engineering firm Salas O’Brien.

“I have not tasted the wine itself, but the engraved bottles are a unique and memorable way to commemorate the formation of our merger partnerships,” Reindl told the Business Journal.

Reindl has overseen 20 M&A deals since joining the company in 2020.

He led Salas through eight deals in 2022 alone, despite global strategic deal volumes falling 9% from the year prior, according to a report from management consulting firm Bain & Company.

For his work at Salas, Reindl was recognized with the Rising Star Award at the Business Journal’s 16th annual CFO of the Year Awards at the Irvine Marriott on May 11.

“It’s a great recognition, but it’s far beyond just me,” Reindl said. “We’ve got a lot of great people working behind the scenes.”

Math Wiz

Reindl grew up in St. Charles, Ill. In school, he excelled in math for his knack for anything involving numbers.

At around the age of 14, Reindl moved to California after his father, Rob Reindl, accepted a job offer in Orange County.

That job was the head of HR at Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW), now OC’s second most valuable public company, from which Rob Reindl has since retired.

“Seeing the success he had, my dad has always inspired me to chase my dreams and see what I can do,” Reindl said.

Reindl attended the University of San Diego, where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in accountancy. He earned his CPA license in 2014, while working for PwC as an assurance associate.

He climbed the ladder at the accounting firm’s SoCal division, receiving early promotions at every level from associate through senior manager. After over eight years at the firm, he left his post as an advisory senior manager for his current position at Salas.

Dealmaker

Several new wine bottles will be added to Reindl’s collection by the end of this year. Salas has already completed four M&A deals since the beginning of 2023 under his direction.

“We never pursue fixer-uppers or unhealthy organizations,” Reindl said. “We associate with high-performing firms that have an engaged leadership team and a strong, proven track record of success.”

Salas also chooses companies in markets it aims to grow in, especially those with tail winds, Reindl added.

The company recently combined with Crossey Engineering, a consulting engineering firm in Toronto.

Crossey “is known for strong technical leadership on highly complex projects like healthcare facilities and high-technology buildings,” Salas CEO Darin Anderson said in a statement.

The deal brings Salas’ total footprint to more than 70 North American offices with over 2,200 team members.

Doubled Revenue

Reindl’s work with mergers has helped Salas more than double its revenue since he joined.

In 2020, Salas posted revenue of $160 million. Today, the company’s run rate revenue exceeds $500 million.

“Our mergers have been a meaningful driver of this growth,” Reindl said. “But equally as compelling and important is our organic growth, which is among the best in our space.”

He expects Salas will complete three to four more mergers this year, which will help the company reach about $600 million in annual revenue.

“The mergers that we do have a flywheel effect,” he added. “As we bring in additional leadership and market expertise, we’re able to sell more services to our combined clients, which helps us grow more organically.”

The post Grant Reindl: Growing Salas O’Brien One Merger at a Time appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The new hires include some of those who have been hit by the wave of layoffs elsewhere in the tech industry.

“We strategically hire for a need,” Cooper told the Business Journal on May 12. “That’s why we’re not doing cutbacks.”

She added: “We have plans for investment and growth, hopefully recession-proof.”
Cooper was one of five honorees at the Business Journal’s CFO of the Year Awards on May 11 at the Irvine Marriott, and received an award in the Lifetime Achievement category.

Her company provides edge-to-edge information technology solutions and services for Fortune 1000 companies.

Cooper, who is also the company’s CEO and chairman, is responsible for overseeing all financial operations, including budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.

Women in Business

It’s the second recent Business Journal accolade for Cooper; last October she was one of the honorees at the 28th annual Women in Business Awards.

The firm’s headcount is now 265 employees, according to Cooper. Ninety of them are in Orange County, she said, with the rest at various locations.

Technologent’s headquarters are at the 100 Spectrum Center Drive tower. In addition to Irvine, it has 13 offices in the U.S., including San Diego and Las Vegas.

It has international locations in seven countries, including Canada, Mexico and India.
Despite the recent batch of awards, she stays almost modest about her achievements.

“I’m just working behind the scenes to help my company,” according to Cooper, who became CEO and CFO simultaneously in 2020.

Cooper has six children, all of them out of the house, and she summarizes the advice she has always had for them.

“Pick a goal and everything is achievable if you work toward it,” Cooper said. “Don’t think anything is impossible. Work your way and go for your dreams.”

She acknowledges that her industry is still dominated by men.

As of May 17, Technologent had nine job openings posted on its website, including Red Hat administrator in Phoenix and Senior System Engineer in Portland, Ore.

Global Provider

The 21-year-old Technologent helps clients outpace the new digital economy by creating IT environments that are “agile, flexible, efficient, transparent and secure,” using a variety of hybrid infrastructure, automation, security and data management products.

Owner Tom Gallaway founded Technologent as a Sun Microsystems reseller, selling $9 million in its first year with a single sales representative.

Cooper holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Cleveland State University and later moved to Orange County.

She began her career as an accountant working in the steel industry in Cleveland and rose through the ranks over the years prior to moving to Irvine.

She is also involved in philanthropy by participating in Girl Scouts at a local and national level, Jeremiah Society and Meals on Wheels.

The post Tammy Cooper Aims to Make Technologent Recession-Proof appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The philanthropist and CEO of multibillion-dollar food manufacturer Golden State Foods preferred being on the sidelines, according to Education Works CEO Jim Connelly.

“He was happy to sit back and let someone else have the glory,” Connelly told the Business Journal. At fishing tournaments, “he’d be the last guy to say, ‘well, I’m gonna catch the biggest fish.’”

Wetterau’s aversion to glory was reflected in his company’s culture. Though GSF—which services brands like KFC, Taco Bell and Wendy’s—can take credit for many iconic fast-food sauces, “it’s not something that we want to talk about,” Wetterau told the Business Journal during an interview last summer.

He led the Irvine-based company as chairman and CEO for 25 years, all while serving on various nonprofit boards throughout the country.

Wetterau was GSF’s third chief executive in its over 75-year history. The company, which has about 6,000 employees across the globe, is projected to do about $6 billion in sales this year.

Friends and business partners of Wetterau had long admired his steadfast commitment to his company’s creed and values, which include the belief in “God and the dignity of all people,” standing by the Golden Rule, making “the best product” and giving customers “a fair deal.”

“It’s not that GSF lost someone special, it’s that the world lost someone special,” VP and Chief Branding and Communications Officer Shellie Frey told the Business Journal. “We are better people because of Mark Wetterau.”

Wetterau died this month due to ongoing health issues. He was 65.

Missouri Born

Wetterau was born on Jan. 26, 1958, at Deaconess Hospital in St. Louis. His parents, Ted Wetterau and Helen Killion Wetterau, watched him develop an interest in small engine repairs at a young age. His fascination with automobiles would later blossom into a yearslong hobby of collecting and restoring cars.

He graduated from Horton Watkins High School in Laude, Mo. in 1976. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Westminster College four years later.

In 1983, he married Virginia Dean. Together, they had three children: M. Stephen Wetterau Jr., Olivia Luce and Elizabeth Bakman.

Business Buyer

Wetterau had been a seasoned business leader before taking the helm of GSF.

He started his career in 1980 with St. Louis-based Wetterau Inc., a family-owned food maker and distributor founded by his great-grandfather in 1869. He rose through the ranks to become chairman and CEO of Shop ‘n Save in 1987 and then president and chief operating officer of Wetterau Inc., which was sold for $1.1 billion in 1992 to Minneapolis-based SuperValu Stores Inc.

Along with his brother, Conrad Wetterau, and former Wetterau Inc. associate Mike Waitukaitis, he went on to form Wetterau Associates LLC to buy and manage businesses.

Their two biggest investments became Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC’s largest independent distributor in Massachusetts, and GSF, which the company bought in 1998 with help from Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos., who was bought out in 2004.

Prior to the purchase, GSF had been serving McDonald’s Corp. for about 50 years. The company helped the fast-food giant roll out numerous signature products, such as the Big Mac sauce, the Triple Thick Shake syrups, and McNugget dipping sauces.

When McDonald’s decided to consolidate its suppliers, GSF in 2018 sold much of its distribution-related businesses with the fast-food chain. The following year, the food manufacturer and distributor saw annual sales fall from about $7 billion to $4.5 billion.

The company expects to generate $6 billion in sales this year.

Today, GSF is the fifth-largest private company in Orange County. It supplies food to 200 leading brands that operate more than 125,000 restaurants or stores in over 50 countries, including some on this week’s Business Journal list of OC’s largest restaurant chains (see list, page 20). If it were a restaurant chain, GSF’s revenue would place it No. 3 on the list.
Silent Savior

Wetterau led GSF through several ups and downs, including the 2008 financial crisis.
GSF’s commercial paper conduit then “collapsed almost overnight,” former Chief Administrative Officer Bill Sanderson told the Business Journal.

Wetterau swiftly took action to keep the company afloat. He, Conrad and Waitukaitis put all their personal wealth on the line “for the sake of all of us,” Sanderson said.

“Some of us execs knew that, but the rank-and-file Golden State Foods associates did not know the pressure they were under,” Sanderson added.

The company at the time had some 4,000 employees.

Campaign Leader

Wetterau’s work with GSF did not stop him from helping multiple nonprofits, including Irvine-based Second Harvest Food Bank of OC.

He joined the nonprofit in the 2000s, despite his lack of familiarity with how food banks operated.

To learn more, he visited about 100 of Second Harvest’s partners, including soup kitchens and other nonprofits that provided meals for people in need.

“At the time I thought, ‘how does this man do all this?’” then-Executive Director Joe Schoeningh told the Business Journal. “He is so busy building his company, yet he wants to do these things out of the goodness of his heart.”

Wetterau also led Second Harvest’s capital campaign for the renovation of its Irvine facility.

The campaign’s lofty $8 million goal worried Schoeningh, who said that the nonprofit at the time had never received a donation of more than $200,000.

Wetterau, however, accepted the challenge without worry or complaint.

“That’s not a big deal,” Wetterau told Schoeningh at the time.

Schoeningh trusted Wetterau, despite analysts for the company saying that only a $5 million campaign was realistic, while $8 million was a stretch.

“Let them think what they want,” Wetterau said to Schoeningh. “We’re going to get the money.”

Within two years, the campaign met its $8 million goal under Wetterau’s direction.

The resulting Irvine facility replaced the nonprofit’s previous headquarters, an old packing warehouse in Orange.

“It just wasn’t efficient for all the perishable food it received and the necessary distribution,” former Second Harvest CEO and now-CEO of Goodwill of OC Nicole Suydam said of the Orange site.

“Mark knew what it took to have a great distribution center, so he was eager to raise the money,” she added. “That will probably go down as one of his biggest legacies.”

Car Enthusiast

Wetterau kept quiet about his health issues while he worked for nonprofits and GSF.

“He didn’t want his family and friends to worry about him,” former Tickets.com CEO Tom Gimple told the Business Journal. “He always worried about others more.”

Wetterau’s health began to decline in recent years, though he kept up his traditions with friends, including an annual trip to Barrett-Jackson’s classic car auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Gimple, Wetterau, Conrad and a host of mutual friends made their annual trek to Arizona for over 20 years.

There, Wetterau would admire the cars on sale, sometimes partaking in the exchange himself to restore vintage muscle cars and make them “prettier and faster,” Gimple said.

Gimple hopes to maintain their car auction tradition even though Wetterau can no longer join them.

“I’d have a hard time believing that this tradition would not continue,” he said. “We’d probably continue it in Mark’s honor.”

Succession Plan

Following Wetterau’s death, Conrad was elected to replace him as chairman. He, like his brother, has also served on the GSF board for 25 years.

“Despite the significant loss of my dear brother, best friend, and longtime GSF leader, Mark, we will continue to build on the incredible momentum of this thriving organization to best serve our valued customers at the highest levels throughout the world,” Conrad said in a statement.

Wetterau is survived by Virginia, his wife of 39 years, their three children and three grandchildren.

Acts of Kindness

Many remember the late Mark Wetterau as the CEO of Irvine-based food manufacturer and distributor, Golden State Foods.

Those who knew him personally, however, remember him as not only an esteemed business leader, but also a caring friend.

Bill Sanderson met Wetterau through the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a global community of chief executives.

They had already known each other for a few years when Sanderson decided to abruptly part ways with the company he worked for due to a disagreement over values.

After the YPO meeting where Sanderson shared his resignation, Wetterau comforted him.

“I’m so sorry,” Wetterau told him. “My heart bleeds for you.”

Wetterau knew Sanderson didn’t have another job lined up, so he made him an offer.

He asked Sanderson to join GSF as a part-time consultant, since he valued Sanderson’s entrepreneurial mindset.

Sanderson took the job, but didn’t expect to stay for long so he could pursue his own business ventures. Sanderson, however, ended up staying at GSF for nearly 20 years, working his way up to senior VP of finance, CFO and, eventually, chief administrative officer.

Joining the company was “a remarkable opportunity and a transformational journey for me, given where I was at the time,” Sanderson said.

Together at GSF, Wetterau and Sanderson worked on the Golden State Foods Foundation, whose mission is to help underprivileged children and families in the areas where the company’s employees live and work.

The nonprofit, which Wetterau founded in 2002, supports a range of causes, such as providing free school supplies, meals and clothing to food insecure, low-income families.

To date, the foundation has raised over $60 million for the more than 850 schools and charities it supports.

The post GSF’s Mark Wetterau Leaves Legacy of Integrity, Generosity appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

Novick has helped to guide various technology companies such as Topio, Maxta, Storwize, Druva, and Kapow.

“Zadara is delivering for its customers and partners a top-notch cloud platform that meets all of their demands for a fraction of the cost of the traditional cloud model,” Novick said in a statement today announcing his appointment.

For more details, see the May 1 print edition of the Business Journal.

The post Zadara in Irvine Names Yoram Novick CEO, President appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

Allred “saw education as a transformative tool that young people could use to make a mark on the world,” Chapman economist and President Emeritus Jim Doti told the Business Journal. “She really wanted to help people who didn’t have the opportunity” to fund their own education.

Her contributions to Chapman earned her an honorary doctorate from the university in 2009, about 60 years after she dropped out of college to raise her two sons, Vern and Dean.

Allred, the CEO of one of the largest woman-owned businesses in Orange County, was also a donor of several arts-focused Orange County nonprofits, including the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the Philharmonic Society of OC, the OC Museum of Art and the Bowers Museum.

The local philanthropist, businesswoman and 2014 winner of the Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award at its 20th Annual Women in Business Awards, died on Jan. 30 after years of suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare blood cancer. She was 94 years old.

Newport Beach Vacation

Allred, born on Sep. 7, 1928, grew up on a farm in Arizona.

She and her late ex-husband, Marvin, both attended college as chemistry majors. Only Marvin completed his degree since Allred dropped out to raise their two sons.

The family planned to move from Arizona to Northern California for Marvin’s doctorate program. Before settling down in NorCal, they vacationed in Newport Beach, which was largely undeveloped at the time.

Marvin received a job offer from a local construction company who needed his background in chemistry to educate pool owners about water treatments. He took the job and forwent his doctorate program, settling his family down in OC.

The couple soon noticed that the area lacked a widespread pool service provider.

“There was potential for a totally new industry, and we were in the right place at the right time,” Allred told the Business Journal during an interview in 2014.

Allred’s Pool Supply

Allred and Marvin took out a $500 loan to buy a truck and start a pool service route. In 1958, they established Allred’s Pool Supply, a retail store that offered pool water testing.

“We were the first in OC to offer that kind of service,” Allred said. “Our customers really liked the fact that we had proper lab equipment and knowledge.”

Three years later, Allred and Marvin started a wholesale line, Pool Water Products.
Allred took some time off work to take care of their newborn daughter, Carol. She returned to their pool businesses shortly after Marvin suffered a heart attack in 1968. He had open-heart surgery, but never fully recovered.

The couple eventually went through an amicable divorce, staying close until Marvin’s death in 2005.

In the divorce settlement, Allred gave up her 50% share of Allred’s Pool Supply and took full control of Pool Water Products.

She expanded Pool Water Products to multiple locations throughout the U.S. The company, which grew to generate over $100 million in annual revenue, became one of the largest woman-owned businesses in OC.

“It was a man’s world, but I was lucky to know most of them,” Allred said.

Being one of few woman CEOs at the time, however, did not come without challenges.
An insurance company once raised her premium because “they thought that as a woman, I was a liability,” she said.

Chapman Trustee

To support her growing business, Allred relied on community resources.

She regularly attended Chapman University’s economic forecast conferences to better understand how the future of the economy may impact her company.

“It was gratifying to see a woman business leader who was interested in our work,” said Doti, who first met Allred in 1985.

Allred became a Chapman trustee about four years after she met Doti. She funded several projects at the university, including the Leatherby Libraries and aquatics center.

She annually contributed to university initiatives that helped students who wouldn’t be able to afford tuition without financial support.

“She saw an education, a Chapman education in particular, as a way for students to follow their dreams,” Doti said.

Meeting Drago Gligic

One of many Chapman educations Allred funded was that of her partner, Drago Gligic.

Gligic met Allred in 1999 on a voyage to the Mediterranean on a Crystal Cruises ship.

Gligic, then 29 years old, worked as a waiter on the cruise at the time. Allred was over 40 years his senior.

The two kept in touched after Allred disembarked the ship. A year later, Gligic moved into Allred’s Harbor Ridge home in Newport Beach.

Gligic never worked for Allred, but drove her to and from her office because she “absolutely hated driving,” Gligic told the Business Journal last week.

With Allred’s support, Gligic attended Chapman and earned two degrees: a bachelor’s in business and an MBA.

“She truly understood the value of education, which is actually priceless,” Gligic said. “It’s something that stays with you forever and can’t be taken from you.”

Gala Lover

On top of Chapman, Allred donated to several arts- and research-focused organizations.

She served as a board director and donor to the Segerstrom Center of the Arts for decades.
Other organizations she supported include UCI Medical Research and Education Society, South Coast Repertory and Pacific Symphony.

Allred and Gligic were frequent guests at fundraising galas. She enjoyed dressing up in finery and socializing with other guests.

“Sometimes, we’d go to multiple galas in a day,” Gligic recalled with a laugh.

Her philanthropy also won her exclusive access to renowned institutions, including a private tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

On the tour, Allred wore the museum’s rumored-to-be cursed 45.5-carat Hope Diamond necklace, which is estimated to be worth over $250 million today. Rather than afraid of the tragic fates past owners of the necklace allegedly met—from decapitations to drownings—Allred was ecstatic to adorn the legendary diamond.

“The expression on her face was priceless,” Gligic said.

MDS Diagnosis

Three years before her death, Allred received her diagnosis for MDS.

Less than 20,000 new cases of MDS appear every year in the U.S., according to data from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The nonprofit also said that fewer than 60,000 people in the nation are currently living with or in remission from MDS.

Those afflicted with the disease possess an imbalance of healthy and defective blood cells, due to blood cells dying prematurely in their bone marrow. Symptoms of MDS include fatigue, shortness of breath, easy bruising and frequent infections.

People with MDS, who are classified from very low to very high risk, have median survival times that range from 8 months to 8 years.

Following her diagnosis, Allred received regular blood transfusions.

Her health, however, quickly deteriorated. She spent the remainder of her life wheelchair bound, under Gligic’s care.

In her last few months, Allred lost the strength to talk.

“She would smile every so often [when] I tried to comfort her, talk to her, hold her hand,” Gligic said.

Pacific View Cemetery

On Jan. 30, Allred’s health gave out. She experienced difficulty breathing that morning, and shortly after, died in her Harbor Ridge home.

Allred’s memorial service took place this month at Corona Del Mar’s Pacific View Cemetery, which she picked as her gravesite years prior.

“For years, she told me ‘I want to be buried here, with all my friends. I want to enjoy the ocean view,’” Gligic said. “She used to joke with me and say ‘they’re gonna bury you on top of me so we can enjoy the ocean together.’”

Allred is survived by Gligic, her three children and 16 grandchildren. Her company, Pool Water Products, currently counts 20 locations across California, Nevada, Florida, Arizona and Texas.

The pool in the aquatics center at Chapman still bears her name.

“When she was born, she was crying, and everybody else was smiling,” Gligic said. “But she lived her life in such a way that now, the people who knew her most are crying, and she’s up in heaven smiling because of all the love and support she’s received.”

The post Executive, Philanthropist Zee Allred Dies at 94 appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.