They are one of California's most influential political couples: four-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum, a wealthy businessman, philanthropist and behind-the-scenes political advisor.
For decades, first as San Francisco mayor and then as senator, Feinstein has had the public persona while Blum has operated in the background. Now, at 71, Blum has stepped into the limelight to take over as chairman of the University of California Board of Regents.
Blum, who chaired his first regents meeting last week, sees an opportunity to use his skills as a corporate takeover artist to help streamline university management, find new sources of money and help rebuild the 10-campus system.
"For a private equity guy, this is like a big corporate restructuring," he said. "This is a huge enterprise, almost $20 billion. I am sure the place can run more efficiently."
Blum was appointed to a 12-year term on the 26-member board in 2002 by then-Gov. Gray Davis, to whom Blum and his companies had given more than $75,000 in campaign donations. But Blum said he felt so ineffective during the first few months that he was ready to resign from the coveted post.
"When I first came on board, I almost quit after the first two or three meetings," he said. "It was hard seeing the way the place was run how to have an impact. I can't just go to something and not to try to reshape the place."
Reshaping things is what Blum has been doing for more than 40 years as a corporate investor.
As a young man, he put together a deal to buy the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for $8 million and sold it four years later for $40 million. That helped give him his stake and he went on to make major investments in companies such as Northwest Airlines.
He met Feinstein in 1977 when she was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and he was advising then-Mayor George Moscone -- the last time he had a public political role. After Moscone was assassinated in 1978, Feinstein became mayor. Blum and Feinstein married in 1980.
There is no question that Blum is well-connected. For his 70th birthday in 2005, he played host to a bash in San Francisco that was attended by former President Carter and the Dalai Lama. He also is close friends with former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale, who almost named Feinstein his running mate in 1984.
