Donald L Bren

To learn about Donald L. Bren, suggests another Orange County developer, you must study his buildings: Graceful but severe office towers with courtyards and lobbies so lean and spare that they suggest aesthetic statements rather than places for people to work. Like his buildings, Bren is cool, reserved--a rich man who is uncomfortable with the kind of attention that being a billionaire brings.

Developer and philanthropist Donald Bren on Tuesday reached beyond the Orange County communities he helped build and define, announcing an $8.5-million donation to benefit after-school programs in Santa Ana and east Los Angeles County. The gift will bolster Santa Ana-based THINK Together, an after-school program that extends the school day for children who need extra coaching with classwork or homework help, often because their parents are working or lack English skills.

Once considered the bad guy in Laguna Beach, Irvine Co. chairman Donald L. Bren was given a hero's welcome Monday evening as officials celebrated a landmark agreement to save Laguna Canyon from development. "There were many months there that I did not think we would come to an accord. But the last few weeks I was heartened and we did, and I am very, very pleased to be a party to buying Laguna Canyon," Bren said during a reception at Hotel Laguna that drew an estimated 450 people.

Christie and David Bren just want what's due them, their lawyer says; no more, no less. And by their calculations, that could be about $2.2 million a month -- each. The teenage children of billionaire Orange County land developer Donald L. Bren will return to court Jan. 3 to try to force their father to pay child support commensurate with his wealth. Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co.

Donald L. Bren is one of Orange County's most prominent--and reclusive--business executives. As chairman of the Irvine Co., the Newport Beach resident is consistently listed as the county's richest individual. Newport Center Fashion Island is the premiere shopping center owned by Irvine Co. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, Bren granted a rare telephone interview--to Times staff writer Chris Woodyard--and talked about the center and Orange County's economic outlook.

Irvine Apartment Communities Inc. accepted a sweetened buyout bid from a company run by its chairman, billionaire Donald L. Bren, after some investors and analysts said Bren's initial offer was too low. The Newport Beach-based apartment developer said Tuesday it reached an agreement to sell the 83% of the company not owned by Bren for $34 a share cash, or $569 million. Bren initially offered $32.50 a share in December.

A Michigan court referee ruled Monday that Joan Irvine Smith, an heiress of Irvine Co., should be paid $149 million plus interest for her stock in the company, now one of the biggest developers in the nation. The decision may put to rest a bitter, seven-year dispute that pitted Smith, whose family founded the huge ranch in the 1860s, against Donald L. Bren, who now controls the company. Both sides seemed pleased by the ruling, in one of the largest such cases on record.

UC Irvine gave Orange County billionaire Donald Bren the right to be consulted in the selection of a dean for its new law school in return for his $20-million donation, according to documents released to The Times on Thursday. The eight-page gift agreement reveals the scope of what Bren received for his money, ranging from major matters such as selection of the dean to specific rules governing how prominently signs featuring his name were to be displayed on the campus.

Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren will donate $20 million to get UC Irvine's fledgling law school off the ground and have it named in his honor. The donation, announced Monday, will ensure that the Donald Bren School of Law will greet an expected first class of 67 students on schedule in fall 2009, said UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake. "Mr Bren is an astute investor and . . . wants this law school to be the very best that it can be," Drake said.

A judge has cleared the way for two children of Irvine Co. owner Donald L. Bren to take their father to court in a 4-year-old fraud case that may illuminate the wealth and lifestyle of one of America's most private billionaires. Jennifer McKay Gold and two children she had with Bren -- Christie A. Bren, 18, and David L. Bren, 15 -- sued the real estate magnate in May 2003, contending Bren withheld emotional and financial support that he had allegedly promised.

There is rich, and then there is Harbor Island rich. Led by billionaire Donald Bren, a group of neighbors in the ultra-exclusive Newport Beach community has bought a $2.1-million house and torn it down, intending to build a guard tower at the entrance to their neighborhood.

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.

UC Irvine officials on Wednesday identified Irvine Co. Chief Executive Donald Bren as the anonymous donor who gave $20 million to UC Irvine's School of Information and Computer Science in December. Bren will be honored at a campus ceremony and groundbreaking Wednesday for the new Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. His gift, the largest gift ever to UCI, provided more than $18 million for 10 endowed faculty chairs for the new school.

A lawsuit filed last week by a former girlfriend seeking more money for two children of Irvine Co. real estate mogul Donald Bren has thrust the reclusive billionaire smack into the public glare he's avoided for decades. Known as Orange County's Donald Trump for his vast real estate holdings, Bren's public persona is closer to that of Bill Gates. He makes few appearances and guards his privacy, while cultivating his image as a responsible builder of meticulously planned communities.

A Los Angeles woman sued real estate billionaire Donald L. Bren on Tuesday alleging fraud and breach of contract by withdrawing promised emotional and financial support for their two children. Jennifer Gold filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of a daughter, 15, and son, 11. The suit, alleging unspecified damages, contends that Bren acknowledged paternity of the children and promised to support them "in a manner and an amount commensurate with his wealth."