Donald L. Bren, the billionaire owner of the Irvine Co. who is ranked among the nation's wealthiest individuals, is challenging a court order that would compel him to reveal details of his personal wealth.
The intensely private Bren, 73, of Newport Beach, is locked in a child support battle with the mother of two of his children, and is fighting their attempts to determine just how rich he is. But a state appeals court ruled that he must be more forthcoming.
Bren is "a man of vast wealth," said a two-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal in a ruling this month. "Whether a supporting parent is merely 4rich or is very rich can make a difference in [support] because a child is entitled to be supported in a style and condition consonant with the position in society of its parents."
Through his attorney, Bren declared he earned an average of $14.4 million a year since 1988, when the older child was born. But the court said there was no evidence presented that the amount "would have approximated his annual gross income."
Bren has asked the court to reconsider its ruling. In a statement provided by a company spokesman, Bren said he has honored every child support obligation from his legal agreements with their mother for more than 17 years.
"Not only does he believe those agreements were fair, over time he has made payments that exceeded the terms mutually agreed upon for the children's well-being and education," the statement said.
Bren's actual wealth has been a topic of speculation for decades. A business executive, developer, philanthropist and art collector, Bren was ranked by Forbes magazine this year as the nation's 40th wealthiest individual, with an estimated worth of $4 billion. He was ranked sixth-highest among the Californians on the magazine's list of the nation's 400 richest people. In 1996, Forbes calculated his wealth at $2 billion, ranking him 58th among the country's richest.
Hillel Chodos, the Los Angeles attorney for the children and their mother, Jennifer McKay Gold, used the Forbes figure of $4 billion and added 6% a year in estimated interest earnings to contend that Bren's income was closer to $240 million a year. Plugging that amount into the state's income-based child-support calculator would yield total monthly payments of about $2 million.
Bren's principal asset is thought to be the privately held Irvine Co., the largest landowner in Orange County and a developer of neighborhoods, shopping malls and business centers.
