Financial Empires of Richest Residents Keep Getting Bigger.

While L.A. moguls are obviously mere mortals -- they go through divorces (personal and business), back losing political candidates and sometimes say stupid or regrettable things -- their investment portfolios are churning out otherworldly returns.

The cumulative net worth of the 50 richest L.A. residents currently tops an amazing $75 billion, almost 20 percent more than a year ago, when the Business Journal last published its census of the area's economic elite.

Granted, the aggregate results are somewhat skewed by Kirk Kerkorian moving back to town from Las Vegas, after his third marriage (to 30-something tennis instructor Lisa Bonder) ended in divorce after a few weeks. The 83-year-old, whose $7.5 billion personal net worth makes him the No. 1 richest local resident, is currently putting the finishing touches on his new Beverly Hills mansion, and preparing to move in soon. In the meantime, he has been living at his other, longtime Beverly Hills estate.

But even excluding Kerkorian, this year's group of wealthiest Angelenos has a combined net worth that exceeds last year's group by almost $5 billion. Of course, not everybody came out a winner this year. But of the 47 people on this year's top 50 list who were also on last year's list, 33 saw their net worth rise while only 14 saw it dip.

There were a few colossal collapses. Idealab founder Bill Gross, No. 9 on last year's list with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion, slid off the list completely.

Joining him off the list are David Lee and Barry Porter, two co-founders of fiber-optic giant Global Crossing Ltd., whose stock price slide also whacked a huge chunk from co-founder Gary Winnick's net worth. Winnick, the largest shareholder in Global Crossing, is still on our list at No. 9, but down from No. 3 a year ago and from No. 1 in 1999.

For most of the rest of L.A.'s monied elite, the past 12 months have been an enriching time. That news comes as no surprise to some economic observers, who say the richest Angelenos are a reflection of L.A.'s economy - big, diverse and stable, and relatively immune from the national economic slowdown.

"If you think about all the people on this list as having one gigantic portfolio, it's very well diversified compared to Silicon Valley," said Richard Roll, a finance professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Business. "Many of these people were not in sectors that got damaged the most in the recent stock market upheaval."

Indeed, L.A.'s richest are a diverse group.

Though Hollywood and the entertainment industry still accounts for a plurality of the members (at least 15 have drawn significant wealth from the sector) the rest are quite varied.

Solid underpinnings

There are several members of the elite club who founded successful companies in an assortment of industries, such as Steven Udvar-Hazy with his International Lease Finance Corp., a jet aircraft lessor. Or Henry Yuen, who has rocketed up the list to No. 12 based on the growth of Gemstar-TV Guide. Joining him in a steep ascent this year is David Gold, the founder of the 99 Cents Only Stores, who jumped from No. 50 on last year's list to No. 37 this year. (In tough times, consumers just love a bargain.)

Others enjoying gusher-like gains in personal net worth are those with energy interests. Selim K. Zilkha, who owns a piece of natural gas producer El Paso Energy Corp., has seen his net worth jump more than 40 percent during the past year, elevating him to billionaire status.

Marvin Davis, already a billionaire several times over, struck it even richer by drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rockies. His wealth spurted about 30 percent to $6.3 billion, falling a notch on our list to No. 3 only because Kerkorian came back to town.

What you won't find among the wealthiest Angelenos is much inherited wealth, with some notable exceptions, including three members of the famous Hearst newspaper clan. L.A.'s new-money profile is decidedly different from the composition of the wealthiest residents, of many old-money cities on the East Coast.

"We are talking about predominantly self-made people," said Ross DeVol, an economist at the Milken Institute. "There is very little inherited money on that list."

In fact, a number of the wealthiest L.A. residents were born and raised in near-poverty. Davis was born in a gritty neighborhood on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. Donald Sterling's odyssey began on the Eastside of Los Angeles, in Boyle Heights. Leslie Gonda and Jona Goldrich - Nos. 11 and 27, respectively, on this year's list - fled from their European homelands to escape almost certain death at the hands of the Nazis.

Amazing heights

In interviews with several of the 50 richest, it becomes clear that many of them are as amazed as anyone by their stupendous success. Eli Broad, who built and sold two separate companies, is among those who look back and marvel.

"This city has been great to me - a true meritocracy. I didn't have the right family background, politics, etc. ... when I came here 36 years ago," he said. "There are very few cities where you can do that."

And having made big money, these moguls are deploying their considerable resources to build even greater empires.

Supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, whose net worth has jumped nearly 50 percent in the past 12 months, said his investment company has been able to snatch some great deals that are already paying off.

"(Last year) was a great time to go into companies at three to six times cash flow. They were so cheap that we feel it's a good time to buy into them," Burkle told the Business Journal. "We got really aggressive. For example, there were a couple of guys at Earth-Link who called and said they wanted to sell their stock. So we took some EarthLink stock at historically low value. We did this at maybe 20 companies in the last three quarters."

Of course, average Janes and Joes typically don't get such phone calls, points out Darell Krasnoff, managing director at Bel Air Investment Advisors, a Century-City based investment boutique that caters to individuals with personal net worth north of $10 million.

The wealthiest investors have a clear advantage over the average investor, Krasnoff said, especially in tough economic times. They can weather the storm, seize opportunities and don't have to expose themselves to high risk to generate healthy long-term returns.