OC'S WEALTHIEST

Orange County Business Journal, Aug 9-Aug 15, 2004 by Padilla, Mathew, Lyster, Michael, Simons, Andrew, Cruz, Sherri, Bellantonio, Jennifer

With wife Lilly, Merage started the Merage Foundation for the American Dream, which earlier this year gave $300,000 to 15 university students. Merage, a native of Iran, picked the students because they also are immigrants. They'll receive $20,000 in the next two years.

Earlier this year, Merage helped the University of California, Irvine, land Andrew Policano as dean of the Graduate School of Management. UC salary and budget constraints kept UCI from matching compensation packages from competing schools looking to lure Policano, a former University of Wisconsin dean and accomplished fundraiser.

So Merage was part of a group led by venture capitalist Charles Martin that formed an independent research institute that Policano heads for extra money.

We're estimating Merage's wealth at $600 million. He could be worth more. Getting a read on how much he owned of Chef America isn't easy. It's believed he and brother David, Chef America's other cofounder, owned most of the company.

The brothers came to the U.S. from Iran in the early 1960s. After graduating from University of California, Berkeley, with a master's in business administration, Paul Merage went to work at Maxwell House, now part of Kraft Foods Inc., and later Hunt-Wesson, now part of ConAgra Foods Inc.

He teamed up with his brother in 1977 to start Chef America in Chatsworth. Paul Merage took out three mortgages on his Encino home and borrowed money from relatives, according to the Wall Street Journal. The brothers first sold frozen Belgian waffles to schools and coffee shops.

The proliferation of microwaves led them to develop frozen snacks that could be made in minutes. Other trends helped propel hot Pockets: more women at work, people eating on the run and "grazers" eating throughout the day instead of sitting down for meals.

The first offerings-pepperoni pizza and ham and cheddar hot Pockets-were sold in convenience stores. They hit grocery stores in 1994. Since then, there have been low-calorie, Mexican and breakfast versions of the calzone-style sandwich.

Today, hot Pockets are an American staple like macaroni and cheese. The products' prevalence in supermarkets and home freezers caught Nestl�'s eye. The Swiss consumer products company had looked at buying Chef America as early as a decade ago.

A few years back, Chef America put itself up for sale but the Merage brothers balked at offers of about $1.5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

-Michael Lyster

No. 11

DAVID SUN

Cofounder, chief operating officer,

Kingston Technology Co.

Estimated worth: $600 million

No. 11

JOHN TU

Cofounder, president,

Kingston Technology Co.

Estimated worth: $600 million

The Kingston duo is a little richer thanks to a resurgence in computer memory products.

David Sun and John Tu run Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Co., one of the largest makers of computer memory products.

After two years of declining business and squeezed profits during the downturn, Kingston has taken a turn for the better. Last year, sales grew 10% to $1.8 billion.