Richard Riordan

Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, who had served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. A Catholic, he is married to Nancy Daly Riordan and has three daughters from his first marriage.

Pre-political life

Riordan, an Irish-American, was born in Flushing, New York and attended Princeton University, earning a degree in Philosophy. He then served in the Korean War, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan in 1956. Shortly thereafter received an inheritance from his father. He invested the money in four firms—Control Data Corporation, Litton Industries, Haloid (predecessor of Xerox), and Syntex—and within a few years had converted an $80,000 investment into almost $500,000.

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Irish-American - Flushing, New York - Princeton University - Philosophy - Korean War - Juris Doctor - University of Michigan - 1956 - Control Data Corporation - Litton Industries - Xerox - Syntex

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He moved to Los Angeles to begin work as an attorney for the downtown law firm of O'Melveny & Myers, but spent the next several years moving from firm to firm while honing his skills as a venture capitalist. Among his successes were the first company to produce low-cost cassette tapes, as well as a $650,000 investment in Convergent Technologies which soared to $19.9 million when it was acquired by Unisys in 1985.

Related Topics:
Downtown - Law firm - Venture capitalist - Cassette tape - Convergent Technologies - Unisys - 1985

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In the mid-1980s he formed the own venture capital firm of Riordan, Lewis & Haden with a J. Christopher Lewis, a former professional tennis player, and former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden. In addition to venture projects, Riordan was also involved in several leveraged buyouts of supermarket chains and, most notably, toy manufacturer Mattel in 1984.

Related Topics:
1980s - J. Christopher Lewis - Tennis - Los Angeles Rams - Quarterback - Pat Haden - Leveraged buyout - Supermarket - Mattel - 1984

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