While he is commonly referred to a either a
billionaire
or a
kazillionaire
in the local press and blogosphere,
Security National CEO Rob Arkley Jr.
does not show up on
Forbes Magazine
‘s recently issued
list of the world’s billionaires
.
Forbes online allows you to array the list in various ways. A look at the
alphabetical list
shows Spanish rancher/steel mogul
Jose Maria Aristrain
followed by Italian fashion designer
Giorgio Armani
. Where’s Rob?
Is may be that Security National’s business structure is such that Forbes could not discern his degree of wealth. (The Forbes folks do not claim the list is complete.) Or maybe he just does not have as much money as we think he has.
On another note, the new list shows that Microsoft’s Bill Gates has fallen from richest man in the world position after 13 years. His replacement at No. 1? None other than
Warren Buffett
,
owner of (among many other things)
PacifiCorp
, the company that owns those
damned
dams on the Klamath
. (See post below.)
This article appears in Codes, Damned Codes.
I have always maintained that Rob Arkley is not a billionaire. His company description says that the Arkley family company, Security National, owns title to property worth over a billion dollars…on paper. That doesn’t make him a billionaire.
It’s hard to gauge Arkley’s actual wealth because SN is not a publicly traded company so nobody outside of Arkley and a few of his accountants really know how much the company is worth.
My guess is that Arkley is not as wealthy as he likes to lead people to believe. He’s not a billionaire and even if he’s worth a couple of hundred million that does not rank him among the wealthiest people in California alone.
My guess is that the subprime loan fiasco has taken a great toll on his personal wealth. This specific segment of the financial industry is SN’s bread and butter enterprise. I believe SN was the nation’s most major player in this particular financial commodity. Not only has the value of SN’s core product dropped through floor, there is no money available to purchase these loans.
Checking Google News (all dates), the only news reference to his being a billionaire I found was in this week’s Journal and an older SFGate reference to SN being a multi-billion dollar business. The other references claiming he is a billionaire are in critical letters or opinion pieces written by individuals.
i found this on the link that you provided…..
Financial Overview
As of June, 2007, Security National Master Holding Company, LLC (SNMHC) had assets totaling $2.25 billion in loan portfolios. To date, the Company has issued 19 term securitizations and three liquidating trusts, with initial bond balances in excess of $2.39 billion.
In addition to its loan business, SNMHC has a commercial property division which consists of 73 buildings and seven development projects valued at over $550 million. The portfolio primarily consists of office and retail properties.
But don’t call it Arkleyville!
andy bird said: “My guess is that the subprime loan fiasco has taken a great toll on his personal wealth….I believe SN was the nation’s most major player in this particular financial commodity.”
====================================
ok, you “guess” and you “believe,” but do you have any data to back up those guesses and beliefs?
if security national is really “the nation’s most major player” in subprime loans, why does this never come up in the ongoing national news about the subprime crisis, while the names of many other large firms are mentioned?
security national buys DISTRESSED loans….they dont make subprime loans…
look at the link that was posted!!!
Saying he’s “the nation’s most major player” in the subprime market is surely an exaggeration. Hedge funds and banks are the big guys — one Japanese bank lost $4.7 billion.
And Theo’s right, SN does not make subprime loans, what they did was buy loan bundles.
I guess Andy Bird was just going off half-cocked and shooting from the hip again, just like his grand conspiracy theories in which Gundersen’s attorney, the judge, and the DA all conspired to “trick” reporters into missing a hearing. Lots of speculation. Zero facts.
C’mon, Andy, you can do better than this kind of drivel…can’t you?
What I should have said is SN is a major player in buying, packaging, and reselling subprime loans. What I understand is that Arkley is well known in the industry for his ability to make distressed or underperforming loans perform. But now there is no market for trading in this commodity because of the subprime loan crash.
Admittedly, this is over my head….in terms of understanding exactly how this industry works. Arkley is incredibly intelligent.
i like toyota supras and think you should give me your money to save starbing kids in africa