Billionaire Moguls Flying Under-The-Radar
We all know of the famous LA billionaires like Elon Musk, Stephen Spielberg and Evan Spiegel, but there are many more billionaires hidden away in the city. Here are 10 Billionaires In L.A. You’ve Never Heard Of.
John Tu
John Tu is a Chinese-American billionaire and the co-founder of Kingston Technology. Kingston grew into a multi-billion-dollar company by building and selling memory/storage tech.
A Chinese native who grew up in Taiwan, John is a self-made success in his own right. He went to college in German, earned an engineering degree and put it to use when he immigrated to the U.S. in 1971.
Tu currently resides in Rolling Hills, California — an illustrious community in Los Angeles. This beautiful area houses several well-known celebrities and business owners and boasts an amazing view of the ocean.
Perhaps the most endearing thing about John Tu is he acknowledges and credits his employee’s hard work for his wealth and success. He is currently worth $6.1 Billion.
Rick Caruso
Rick Caruso is the billionaire founder of ‘Caruso’, an American real-estate company. Caruso built its fortune with successful shopping centers such as The Grove, a popular outdoor mall and celebrity hot-spot.
His father, Henry Caruso, happens to be the founder of the Dollar Rent-a-Car and opened many car dealerships in the Los Angeles area.
Aside from his real-estate business, he also serves on the board at USC, of which he is an alumni.
Rick Caruso is currently worth $4.2 Billion.
Don Hankey
Don Hankey is the founder of Hankey Group, which earned him billions through car finance. He also owns a popular Toyota dealership in L.A. as well as car rental businesses across the country.
Hankey resides away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown L.A., in laid-back Malibu. He’s currently sitting pretty on a $3.1 Billion fortune!
Alec Gores
This billionaire earned his riches through private equity. Alec Gores is an Israeli immigrant who came to America at the young age of 15. Once a humble bag boy at his uncle’s grocery store in Michigan, he and his brothers have all gone on to be powerful executives.
Alec said that his father was willing to “give up everything” in Israel to come to the U.S. so he could ‘have a better future’. The man did the right thing! Gores even bought a piece of the Hostess company at one point!
He now has an estimated worth of $2.1 Billion.
Haim Saban
Haim Saban‘s name may ring a bell for some of you. He’s the namesake behind Saban Entertainment, which brought the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers to our TV sets back in the 90s! In fact, not only did he repurchase the rights to the Power Rangers after its heyday, he RESOLD it again and earned over $500 million!
Haim is also a, investor, musician, and record producer. He’s very invested in spotlighting talent from across the globe and even started Saban Music Group. Fun Fact … he’s also behind the original Power Rangers theme song!
As if that weren’t enough, Saban Capital Group purchased the Spanish-language media company Univision Communications, which is valued at over $13 Billion on its own.
Haim Saban is currently worth $3 Billion.
Lynsi Snyder
Lynsi Snyder is pretty much royalty in California. The source of her billions comes from the incredibly famous In-N-Out Burger chain, which was founded by her grandparents! Snyder took control of her family’s company at only 18-years-old, after her father passed away.
By 2012 she became the world’s youngest female billionaire. She’s also a notable philanthropist, founding the In-N-Out Burger Foundation which helps out abused and neglected children.
Lynsi is currently worth $3.1 Billion.
Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling is an American business man who you may remember… Serling previously owned the Los Angeles Clippers but was banned from the NBA and fined $2.5 million after videos of him making racist comments were released.
With a net worth of $3.8 billion, Serling has three children and was sadly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease in 2014. His wife Shelly went on to sell the Clippers for $2 Billion to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, although he fought the sale in court.
Anthony Pritzker
Born in 1961, Anthony Pritzker is 1 of 11 heirs to the wealthy Pritzker Family. The Pritzkers fortune comes from owning the Hyatt Hotels.
Anthony serves as a managing partner of the Pritzker Group, which owns a portion of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and even has connections to LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
He currently lives in Beverly Hills along with his His and children. Pritzker is currently worth $3.5 Billion.
Patrick Soon-Shiong
Patrick Soon-Shiong is a self-made billionaire who invented the chemotherapy drug Abraxane, which is used to treat cancer.
Soon-Shiong was born in South Africa to Chinese immigrant parents who fled China during the WWII occupation of Japan. He studied medicine at the University of Witwatersrand and earned a Masters at the University of British Columbia. He’s also received awards for his research and was one of the first surgeons to complete a whole-pancreas transplant.
Soon-Shiong now owns the Los Angeles Times, is a minority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and recently purchased the San Diego Tribune. His is currently one of the highest paid CEOs with a net worth of $6.8 Billion.
David Geffen
David Lawrence Geffan is a producer, film executive and philanthropist worth $8 Billion. He is the founder of Asylum Records, Geffen Records, DGC Records and the film studio Dreamworks.
David started his humble career mailroom of the talent agency William Morris where he grew into an agent. He now has a $2 billion art collection, a massive $500 Million yacht and a huge real-estate collection in NYC and California.
In fact, he was just in the news because he sold the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, the most expensive home in Los Angeles!
There are 92 people in California who have a net worth of over $2 billion, according to Forbes Magazine, and these are just ten of them you may not have heard of.
