Donald L Bren

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Donald Bren, a former Marine and current head of the Irvine Co., plans to donate $1 million to endow two academic chairs at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va., school officials said Friday. The positions are to be filled by civilian professors-in-residence, one of whom will focus on ethics and leadership and the other on innovation and transformation, officials said.

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."