It's a good thing Nancy Silverton still has her day job.
The La Brea Bakery founder and queen of L.A.'s restaurant scene is among the legions of investors who've lost their fortunes in the alleged $50-billion fraud attributed to New York financier Bernard L. Madoff.
The financial pain is bad enough, Silverton says, but what makes it worse is that she ignored the advice of her father and others who warned her to diversify her investments.
Instead, after walking away with a profit of more than $5 million from the sale of La Brea Bakery in 2001, Silverton put all of her money in a fund affiliated with a Beverly Hills advisor, who in turn entrusted the funds to Madoff.
"I was silly and I learned a lot," said Silverton, 54, who is an owner of Pizzeria Mozza and its neighboring Osteria Mozza in Hollywood. "I will never not diversify."
Silverton said she learned the bad news from her father when she called him at his office as she was driving up to Napa Valley about two weeks ago.
"He said, 'I want to tell you something. Everything's gone. We lost everything.' "
She was devastated. Silverton said she lost her entire nest egg, including her retirement fund and money she had set aside for her children and their educations.
"I need to reinvent my life," said Silverton, who co-founded the landmark Campanile restaurant and La Brea Bakery with her ex-husband, Mark Peel, and another partner. "To think you have a chunk of money is very comforting. Now, I'm just like 99% of the world. If I had to retire tomorrow, I could not."
She also needs to "build something" again for her three children, ages 15, 23 and 26. "They don't have any of that savings."
Silverton invested with Beverly Hills money manager Stanley Chais through a fund called CMG Ltd. Silverton's father, a former lawyer and real estate investor, and other members of their family also lost money through another Chais-related fund called "Caroline," she said.
Chais, 82, was named last week in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that he and his firm were involved in "false, misleading, unlawful, unfair and fraudulent acts and practices."
Chais could not be reached for comment.
Silverton concedes she is "a lot better off than a lot of people." But she noted that her income from the restaurants hinges on how well those eateries do. With the country in recession, she has to worry about "what happens next year."
