Category: San Diego

Relational Investors wants seats on Occidental's board

CalSTRS’ pay czar Ralph Whitworth wants to unseat the Occidental Petroleum board that made CEO Ray Irani one of the highest paid executives in the nation.

Irani made $857 million over the past decade, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

So Whitworth, who heads San Diego’s Relational Investors LLC, is teaming up with the California Teachers retirement system to knock some heads at OXY, according to the Journal.

The New York Times’ DealBook obtained CalSTRS and Relational’s letter, which you can read here.

Relational and Calstrs Letter to Occidental Petroleum

Whitworth tells DealBook that he senses “a palpable level of disgust among investor base here.”

Really? Where is “here?” Are we talking Ralph’s posh Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood?

Yes, Irani is overpaid. But Occidental shares returned 873 percent over the past decade.

What about Oracle? CalSTRS has 6.7 million shares in Oracle, whose CEO Larry Ellison, is the No. 1 most overpaid executive at a publicly-traded firm in the US, if not the world.

Ellison earned $1.85 billion in compensation over the past decade (more than double Irani’s pay), while Oracle’s shares returned far less. Why not kick up a fuss on the Oracle board?

Or what about Barry Diller who actually lost money for shareholders over the past decade (including CalSTRS) while taking home $1.1 billion in compensation.

And how about Whitworth, the man who paid Paul McCartney $1 million to sing at his now ex-wife’s Rancho Santa Fe birthday party? How much does he make? He won’t tell us, and since he works for a private company, he doesn’t have to.

Well, what about the money Whitworth paid to middlemen like Tullig Inc. to land CalPERS as his biggest investor?

And how much has this “activist” style of investing generated for CalSTRS?

Far, far less than Occidental Petroleum did.

The Enigma Impresses the Poker World

Poker writer Peter Sharkey is impressed by Brent “The Enigma” Wilkes’ power of concentration at the card table:

Brent Wilkes should exploit a gap in the market – for poker players’ benefit

Just how good are you at blanking everything out and concentrating fully upon your poker?

The level of concentration necessary to be successful is startling as you need to keep a constant eye on how play progresses and how individuals react to winning as well as to defeat. If you’re having problems away from the table and they begin to prey on your mind, it’s invariably curtains for your game.

Of course, there are short cuts to achieving a level of focus few other pursuits require. Switching on an mp3 player or donning those mirrored lens shades are two of the most popular – and effective, but there’s no substitute for heading to the felt with a clear mind.

So imagine you had been convicted for bribing a government official and received a 12-year prison sentence. That’s bad enough, but assume you’ve been free on bail for more than two years, pending an appeal against your sentence. Seems you would have your plate pretty full eh? And probably not much time to partake of a few hands of poker.

Not Mr Brent Wilkes, a 56 year-old former defence contractor who was convicted of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and wire fraud in 2007. Mr Wilkes was freed from prison in February 2008 pending an appeal, which finally got under way on Monday.

Teddy Bear Collector Admits Stealing San Diego County Pension $

Paul Greenwood

Bow-tie wearing hedge fund founder Paul Greenwood has pleaded guilty to defrauding San Diego County’s pension and other big institutional investors of at least $331 million.

Greenwood and partner, Stephen Walsh, ran WG Trading, which collapsed with $78 million of San Diego County retirees’ money.

“You treated these investments as your own personal bank accounts?” U.S. District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum in Manhattan asked Greenwood during his plea hearing yesterday.
“Correct,” said Greenwood, who said he and Walsh often paid investors back using funds from other investors.
Greenwood used part of the money to acquire a collection of rare teddy bears and other stuffed animals.
The San Diego County Employees’ Retirement Association is suing to get its money back.

Out on Bail, Brent "The Enigma" Wilkes Plays His Cards Right

Brent "The Enigma" Wilkes

A “58-year-old retiree” is how Ultimatepoker.com described Brent “the Enigma” Wilkes after he won $10,900 in a March No-Limit Hold-’em poker tournament at Harrah’s Rincon Casino.

Sporting his new chin strap, Wilkes is a self-described “former executive consultant who is now retired and is spending much of his time writing and playing poker,” Ultimatepoker.com tells us.

He’s also a former defense contractor who was convicted of bribing former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham with prostitutes, luxury vacations and other goodies.

Since he bailed out of prison while he appeals his conviction, The Enigma sure has been playing a lot of poker.

He made it to the finals at last year’s Rincon series, coming up just short of victory on each occasion.

Fans of the Randy “Duke” Cunningham scandal will recall that Wilkes was a life-long poker player. According to testimony at his trial, one of the ways Wilkes bribed Cunningham was by letting the old pilot win at poker.

Wilkes and his best friend, former CIA honcho Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, who’s now serving time in prison for fraud, hosted regular poker games at the Watergate Hotel that were the subject of much (mostly unfounded) speculation.

Irwin Jacobs one of decade's biggest earners

San Diego’s Irwin Mark Jacobs is No. 15 on the list of the decade’s top earners at publicly-traded companies, a Wall Street Journal analysis has found.

The Journal put the Qualcomm founder’s total realized compensation at $436.8 million for the period of 1999-2008. Jacobs served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from July 1985 to March 2009 and as Chief Executive Officer of the Company from July 1985 to June 2005.

For investors, Jacobs’ performance as CEO landed Qualcomm in the middle of the pack of the companies on the Journal’s list. An investor who bought $100 worth of Qualcomm shares wound up with $191.90 over that period.

The bulk of Jacobs’ compensation came in gains on stock options, which netted him $419.5 million.

Forbes estimates Jacobs’ total fortune at $1.6 billion, making him the 220th wealthiest American on the magazine’s annual ranking.

Topping the Journal’s list was the $1.84 billion realized by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.