From Bloomberg:

As chairman, Bren remains the ultimate decision-maker at Irvine Co. He’s tan, athletic, “forceful and confident,” says James Doti, the former president of Chapman University, a private liberal arts school in the city of Orange. “He speaks. You listen.” Bren comes into the office every day, where he works on the ninth floor, at a desk overlooking the Fashion Island shopping center (which he owns) and, farther in the distance, the exclusive Harbor Island (an artificial island where he has a mansion). He’s been known to sign off on construction documents and profit and loss statements by hand.

I went to UC Irvine for undergrad and lived in Irvine for many years once I started working. It is the next city over from Laguna Beach and we spend a lot of time at Irvine Spectrum. I knew of the ubiquity of The Irvine Company back then, but this is the most I’ve read about the company and its chairman, Donald Bren. For someone like me who lived in and around Irvine and notices “things”, this was a fascinating read.

Fun fact: you know you’re at an Irvine Company property if the markings for the parking spaces are painted green.

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