Alfred Mann

Swiss hearing aid firm Sonova Holding said today it is buying cochlear implant maker Advanced Bionics Corp., based in Valencia, for $489 million in cash. Privately-held Advanced Bionics was founded in 1993. Its majority shareholder is the biotech investor Alfred Mann. The company, which has 660 employees and sales in over 30 countries, has an 18 percent share of the global market in cochlear implants. These electronic devices are surgically implanted inside the ear to stimulate the auditory nerves, allowing deaf people to hear sounds.

It took him more than a year of wrangling with city officials, but Alfred Mann, one of the wealthiest businessmen in the San Fernando Valley, finally got the green light Wednesday to buy a hunk of land in Sylmar for a new biomedical plant. Councilman Alex Padilla had blocked the project for months, insisting that Mann meet several conditions--including setting up an internship program for Mission College students--before the lawmaker agreed to support it.

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a defense lawyer did such a bad job that the death sentence against his client, who killed a West Covina police officer, should be overturned. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the lawyer had spent less than two hours preparing for the penalty phase of the trial. The court found that, if other evidence had been presented, the killer would have had a "reasonable probability" of receiving a sentence of life in prison.

A workaholic with seemingly inexhaustible energy, Alfred E. Mann regularly puts in 100-hour weeks overseeing his biomedical empire--including construction of a new company headquarters on a 40-acre site at CSUN. Mann, 74, first demonstrated his flair for business in high school, when he took a jewelry course, melted down old silver flatware, fashioned it into jewelry and resold it to classmates.

Educators at Cal State Northridge are growing eager for a close-up look at their new biotechnical neighbor as workers building MiniMed Inc.'s $70-million headquarters recently passed the three-quarters mark at CSUN's North Campus tract. But that's not all. The school's neighbors are so happy to see MiniMed move in that they've elected company Chairman and Chief Executive Alfred E. Mann as honorary mayor of Northridge.

Alfred E. Mann can steady the beat of a faltering heart and breathe sound into a damaged ear. His eyes dance at the mere mention of an artificial pancreas. This biomed billionaire, still working 80-hour weeks at age 74, prefers to keep a relatively low profile in the San Fernando Valley, where five of his eight companies are based. But Mann--whose $5.7-billion insulin-pump firm, MiniMed Inc., just moved into sleek new digs at Cal State Northridge--recently stumbled into a bureaucratic bog.

After a closed-door meeting between Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla and biotech mogul Alfred Mann, the councilman said Friday he is prepared to support plans to use surplus city land in Sylmar to house a cancer drug research and manufacturing facility. Padilla said his support was contingent on Mann agreeing to address three issues, which Mann told The Times would be no problem.

Biomedical entrepreneur Alfred E. Mann sealed an agreement Wednesday to donate $100 million to USC to establish an institute to turn raw scientific discoveries into useful products--and is poised to give another $100 million for a similar institute at UCLA. The USC gift alone will make the 72-year-old Mann--the son of an immigrant grocer--one of the top 10 donors ever to higher education in the United States.

Recent news has done very little toward improving the image of our great nation. Then out of all the smut comes a fine report describing the $100 million gift from Alfred E. Mann to USC (Feb. 5). Best of all was the reason he gave for this donation. "When my success exceeded my expectations I began to think of a way to return to society what it has given to me." God bless America and God bless Alfred Mann. CLARENCE W. HAYWARD Los Angeles

Alfred E. Mann can steady the beat of a faltering heart and breathe sound into a damaged ear. His eyes dance at the mere mention of an artificial pancreas. This biomed billionaire, still working 80-hour weeks at age 74, prefers to keep a relatively low profile in the San Fernando Valley, where five of his eight companies are based. But Mann--whose $5.7-billion insulin-pump firm, MiniMed Inc., just moved into sleek new digs at Cal State Northridge--recently stumbled into a bureaucratic bog.

Swiss hearing aid firm Sonova Holding said today it is buying cochlear implant maker Advanced Bionics Corp., based in Valencia, for $489 million in cash. Privately-held Advanced Bionics was founded in 1993. Its majority shareholder is the biotech investor Alfred Mann. The company, which has 660 employees and sales in over 30 countries, has an 18 percent share of the global market in cochlear implants. These electronic devices are surgically implanted inside the ear to stimulate the auditory nerves, allowing deaf people to hear sounds.

By selling off insulin pump maker MiniMed Inc. for more than $3 billion, biomed mogul Alfred E. Mann cut the cord from the company that was almost synonymous with his name--and that made him a fortune. But to Mann, the separation wasn't traumatic. Even as the ink was drying on the deal to sell MiniMed and its sister firm, Medical Research Group Inc., Mann was plotting the course for two more of his biotech start-ups: one that makes ear implants and the other seeking to develop a cancer vaccine.

It took him more than a year of wrangling with city officials, but Alfred Mann, one of the wealthiest businessmen in the San Fernando Valley, finally got the green light Wednesday to buy a hunk of land in Sylmar for a new biomedical plant. Councilman Alex Padilla had blocked the project for months, insisting that Mann meet several conditions--including setting up an internship program for Mission College students--before the lawmaker agreed to support it.

After a closed-door meeting between Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla and biotech mogul Alfred Mann, the councilman said Friday he is prepared to support plans to use surplus city land in Sylmar to house a cancer drug research and manufacturing facility. Padilla said his support was contingent on Mann agreeing to address three issues, which Mann told The Times would be no problem.

Alfred E. Mann can steady the beat of a faltering heart and breathe sound into a damaged ear. His eyes dance at the mere mention of an artificial pancreas. This biomed billionaire, still working 80-hour weeks at age 74, prefers to keep a relatively low profile in the San Fernando Valley, where five of his eight companies are based. But Mann--whose $5.7-billion insulin-pump firm, MiniMed Inc., just moved into sleek new digs at Cal State Northridge--recently stumbled into a bureaucratic bog.

Alfred E. Mann can steady the beat of a faltering heart and breathe sound into a damaged ear. His eyes dance at the mere mention of an artificial pancreas. This biomed billionaire, still working 80-hour weeks at age 74, prefers to keep a relatively low profile in the San Fernando Valley, where five of his eight companies are based. But Mann--whose $5.7-billion insulin-pump firm, MiniMed Inc., just moved into sleek new digs at Cal State Northridge--recently stumbled into a bureaucratic bog.

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a defense lawyer did such a bad job that the death sentence against his client, who killed a West Covina police officer, should be overturned. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the lawyer had spent less than two hours preparing for the penalty phase of the trial. The court found that, if other evidence had been presented, the killer would have had a "reasonable probability" of receiving a sentence of life in prison.

A workaholic with seemingly inexhaustible energy, Alfred E. Mann regularly puts in 100-hour weeks overseeing his biomedical empire--including construction of a new company headquarters on a 40-acre site at CSUN. Mann, 74, first demonstrated his flair for business in high school, when he took a jewelry course, melted down old silver flatware, fashioned it into jewelry and resold it to classmates.

Educators at Cal State Northridge are growing eager for a close-up look at their new biotechnical neighbor as workers building MiniMed Inc.'s $70-million headquarters recently passed the three-quarters mark at CSUN's North Campus tract. But that's not all. The school's neighbors are so happy to see MiniMed move in that they've elected company Chairman and Chief Executive Alfred E. Mann as honorary mayor of Northridge.

AGE: 72 HOME: Beverly Hills PROFESSION: Biomedical entrepreneur and founder of Sylmar-based MiniMed Inc., Advanced Bionics and Medical Research Group. Philanthropist. LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Mann, who made millions selling pacemakers and insulin pumps, became one of the nation's biggest donors to higher education in February when he announced a $100-million gift to USC for biomedical research and his intention to give another $100 million to UCLA.