Colorful Celebration

By Richard Mineards | October 10, 2019

Colorisity event committee: Jill Chase, Ashley Blevins, Kathleen McClellan, Pamela Dillman Haskell, and Anais Pellegrini (photo by Priscilla)

Attending the Colorisity event from the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation are Victoria and Bill Strong with Karie Ide (center) (photo by Priscilla)

Jill Levinson, Robin Gose, and Kelly Bret Almeroth welcoming guests to the MOXI Colorosity gala (photo by Priscilla)

The MOXI Museum, which has 150,000 guests annually, was socially gridlocked when 300 supporters attended the third annual fundraiser Colorosity, raising around $300,000 for the STEAM education, outreach, and accessibility initiatives.

All three floors provided a feast for the eyes and palate, with bountiful food at each stop.

The boffo bash, co-chaired by Kelly Bret Almeroth and Jill Levinson, attracted quite the hungry hoard, including Belle Hahn, Jennifer Zacharias, Jeff Jacobs, Morrie and Irma Jurkowitz, Robin Gose, Andrea Hutton, Alixe Mattingly, Nancy Sheldon, Scott Hadley, Jill Chase, Lisa Hearst Hagerman, and Noelle Wolf.

Randall Kopf, William Skidmore, Azra Kargar, Jay Peña, and Shannon Curtis (photo by Priscilla)

Montecito Money

Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, 55, who took over the Biltmore at the weekend for his annual pow-wow, is once again America’s richest man.

He narrowly beat Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates with $114 billion, down considerably from his 2017 fortune of $160 billion.

A large chunk of his missing money now occupies number 15 on the list, his ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos, who makes her debut with $36.1 billion.

Number two Gates, 64, has $106 billion, with number three Warren Buffett, 89, with $80.8 billion, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 35, at number four with $69.6 billion, and number five is Santa Barbara resident and Oracle entrepreneur Larry Ellison with $65 billion, the same rankings as last year, but with dramatic shifts in their respective fortunes.

Montecito resident and Google honcho Eric Schmidt, 64, is again at number 33 with $14.2 billion, and frequent visitor Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, 77, whose NFL team trains each summer in Oxnard, is ranked 56th with $8.6 billion.

Star Wars producer George Lucas, 75, who has a beach house in Carpinteria, is number 107 with $5.9 billion, while Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso, 60, who opened the Rosewood Miramar earlier this year, is 168th with $4.2 billion, with mall and sports team magnate Herb Simon, 85, at 250 with $3.3 billion.

Our most famous resident media magnate Oprah Winfrey, 65, is at 319 with $2.7 billion, a slight decrease from 2018, while Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner, 75, owner of the Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch, is ranked 296 with $2.9 billion.

There are 13 entries in the rankings under 40, with 19 making their debuts.

In total, the fortunes of all 400 ranked adds up to $2.96 trillion, a record high.