The List is Compiled by the L.A. Business Journal
By BILL BRUNS
Circling the News Contributor
Only three residents in Pacific Palisades are ranked among the 50 Wealthiest Angelenos in the latest compilation by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Everyone on the list “has amassed a personal fortune of at least $1.5 billion,” said the magazine’s publisher, Anna Magzanyan. Their wealth totals “more than $221 billion spread across just 54 individuals and couples,” thanks largely to “soaring stock indexes and rising property values.”
Steven Spielberg
Photo: Gage Skidmore
The richest Palisadian is movie director Steven Spielberg, ranked #12 by the Business Journal, with an estimated net worth of $5.3 billion (up 4% from a year ago). His fortune comes from three main categories: the income he has accumulated from his 45 years of film making; an in-perpetuity consulting agreement with Universal Studios; and his stake in Amblin Partners, a content and entertainment production company where he serves as chairman and chief executive, according to the Business Journal.
Bobby Murphy, the co-founder and the chief technology officer of Snap Inc., is #24 on the list with a $3.2 billion fortune, thanks to his stock ownership in the social media company he launched with Evan Spiegel when they attended Stanford. Murphy was recruited by Spiegel after they finished working on a failed startup called Future Freshman, a website for high school kids applying for college. In 2011, Murphy and Spiegel founded a disappearing-image messaging app called Picaboo, which became Snapchat, and now Snap Inc. Murphy, a Venice resident, has purchased the former Eddie Albert property in the Riviera neighborhood.
Palisadian Jeffrey Gundlach, 59, is ranked #47 with a net worth of $1.6 billion, up 14% from a year ago. Said the Business Journal: “Gundlach’s DoubleLine Capital saw assets under management grow to $139.8 billion through June 2019, up from $118 billion at the start of 2018.” Under a heading called The Buzz, the magazine noted that “‘Bond King’ Gundlach is a closely watched fixed-income investor known for his bold market calls, including predicting the housing crash that set off the Great Recession a decade ago.”
Rick Caruso
Our Brentwood neighbor, Rick Caruso, ranks #10 this year with a net worth of $5.7 billion, up 19% from 2018. Said the Business Journal: “Caruso has enjoyed a banner year. The developer of high-end retail spaces, including the Grove and the Americana at Brand, opened two new properties: the 125,00-square-foot Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades and his first resort project, the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito.” In addition, “His company has grown nearly 20% annually since it was founded, and his portfolio carries only a small amount of debt compared to other developers.”
Evan Spiegel, 29, who grew up in the Palisades and now owns two homes in Brentwood, is 19th on the Wealthiest list with a net worth of $3.7 billion (up 12% from a year ago), thanks largely to his stake in Santa Monica-based Snap Inc. He’s the company’s co-founder and chief executive.