The Anatomy of Public Corruption

Showing posts sorted by date for query Dan Helix. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Dan Helix. Sort by relevance Show all posts

OBIT: Thomas A. Heffron - Litigant connected to CNET Attorney Mary Nolan


Thomas A. Heffron Mar. 27, 1958~Dec. 23, 2013 Resident of Walnut Creek Tom passed away unexpectedly. He is survived by his 91 year old mother, Frances M. Heffron and his 9 year old daughter, Renee F. Heffron, Martin J. Heffron, his father preceeded him in death in 2009. There will be a Catholic service on January 25, 2014 at St. Francis Assisi Church located at 860 Oak Grove Rd., Concord, CA at 12 Noon. All donations should be made to the Heffron Family Trust at Morgan Stanley, 1333 N. California Blvd. Suite 133, walnut Creek, CA 94596-4552.

Dean Witter Reynolds Trust Forgery


To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.


Case CIVMSC97-03243 - THOMAS A. HEFFRON VS DAN HELIX


Case CIVMSC97-03243 - Complaints/Parties

Complaint Number: 1
Complaint Type: COMPLAINT
Filing Date: 08/15/1997
Complaint Status: ACTIVE
Party Number Party Type Party Name Attorney Party Status
PLAINTIFF  THOMAS A. HEFFRON   PRO PER   
DEFENDANT  DAN HELIX   Unrepresented  Serve Required (WaitS) 



Case CIVMSC97-03243 - Actions/Minutes

Viewed
Date
Action Text
Disposition
Image
  01/14/1998 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  01/13/1998  FULL REQ FOR DISMISSAL W/O PREJUDICE AS TO ENTIR E ACTION       
  01/09/1998 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  01/03/1998 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  01/02/1998 8:00 AM DEPT. 13  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  01/02/1998 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  12/10/1997  NOTICE OF CONTINUED STATUS CONFERENCE (AMENDED D ATE) 01/14/98 830AM D2       
  12/09/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE       
  12/08/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE       
  12/08/1997  NOTICE OF CONTINUED STATUS CONFERENCE (AMENDED D ATE) 01/09/98 830AM D2       
  11/26/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  OSC RE: PROOF OF SERVICE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  11/25/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE       
  11/19/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. DM4  OSC RE: PROOF OF SERVICE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  11/19/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  OSC RE: PROOF OF SERVICE       
  11/19/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 02  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE       
  11/18/1997  ORDER OF RECUSAL AND REASSIGNING CASE AND CERTIF ICATE OF MAILING BY CLERK       
  10/28/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. DM4  OSC RE: PROOF OF SERVICE       
  10/28/1997  NOTICE OF OSC RE: PROOF OF SERVICE       
  10/20/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. TM4  CHECK FOR PROOF OF SERVICE   COMPLETED    
    Minutes
    You are Not Authorized to View Minutes prior to 12/31/2099 
  08/19/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. TM4  CHECK FOR PROOF OF SERVICE       
  08/15/1997 8:00 AM DEPT. 13  FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE       
  08/15/1997  > COMPLAINT FILED - SUMMONS ISSUED       
  08/15/1997  NOTICE OF FIRST STATUS CONFERENCE 1-2-98 8:30AM D-M4       
  08/15/1997  FEE COLLECTED FOR EX PARTE OSC/TRO PRELIM INJ       
  08/15/1997  FEE COLLECTED FOR PS OSC/TRO RE PRELIM INJ **** ** NOT YET FILED ******       





Case CIVMSC97-03243 - Pending Hearings

Date
Action Text
Disposition
Image
This Case Does Not Have Any Pending Hearings
Share:

Milken Money Milking the Redwoods

Pete Bennett contracted to SBCglobal during 9/11 helped bring down Building 7 containing SEC documents aimed at Enron.

Bennett sued Southern Pacific, worked for ComputerLand where his reporting project revealed the owners sold to Merisel Fab a big bucket of cooked books that cost his peers thier retirement. 

Then Bennett became a pawn in the game of International Politics of War by deploying the global virus that wiped out servers around the globe.

Effectively ensuring the Enron investigation died along with 3000 during the previous week.

Amazing considering the tears of millions were weeping while the flesh was rotting and first responders inhaling the acrid toxins creating those last future beath decades later.

Bennett v Southern Pacific 
Contra Costa v Helix, kinder Morgan,  union Pacific 

MG Dan Helix grandson found dead in Las Vegas just like Madeline Seeley in connection to PG&E before San Bruno

Officer Clemente arrests Bennett over and over 
eeping 


####

Feature

Ravaging the Redwood: Charles Hurwitz, Michael Milken and the Costs of Greed

by Ned Daly

The fate of the largest unprotected redwood forest in the world may now rest in the hands of an unlikely savior, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Since the 1985 MAXXAM takeover of Pacific Lumber, the redwood ecosystem known as the Headwaters Forest, located in Humboldt County on California's North Coast, has been under siege. Lawsuits, direct action, legislative efforts and all other attempts at preservation have so far failed to curb MAXXAM's ravenous appetite for redwood lumber. Now many environmentalists and community activists are hoping the FDIC can stop the forest from falling victim to corporate greed. The federal agency may be able to acquire the redwood forest as partial or full payment for the $548 million outstanding claim against the United Financial Group (UFG), a holding company for United Savings Association of Texas (USAT), a failed savings and loan controlled by MAXXAM and its chief executive officer, Charles Hurwitz.

Hurwitz is not averse to transferring part of the Headwaters Forest to federal government control, but he is insisting on rather different terms than environmentalists are proposing. Ignoring the fact that a company he controls, UFG, owes $548 million to the government, he has asked the government to pay him $600 million cash for a small grove of redwoods; if the offer is refused, he has threatened to liquidate the forest.

"If the federal government does not purchase the Headwaters Forest, Pacific Lumber will go ahead with its timber operations," says MAXXAM's Director of Public Relations Scott Lamb.

 A Wall Street Journal article said Hurwitz's proposal "brings new meaning to the term greenmail." Hurwitz paid approximately $900 million for the 196,000 acres owned by Pacific Lumber. If the government were to accept his proposal to buy 4,500 acres for $600 million, Hurwitz would earn a profit of more than 2,800 percent.

The people of California's North Coast know Charles Hurwitz and MAXXAM well enough to take his threat seriously. Twice in 1992, the company cut hundreds of trees in the old-growth grove of Owl Creek on holidays and weekends when state regulators were not working, in violation of the California Board of Forestry cutting regulations. Both times the cutting was eventually stopped by court injunction. Under current plans, MAXXAM will harvest all the remaining old-growth redwoods it owns within the next 14 years.

One of the last stands

 The government's response to MAXXAM and Hurwitz's threat will determine the fate of a unique ecosystem.

Many trees in the Headwaters Forest are as old as 2000 years. The cornerstones of an old-growth ecosystem are species diversity and a continual recycling process interlocking life and death. After a 300- foot redwood falls, it serves as a nurse log to help new seedlings grow. The seedlings grow right out of the nurse log, which provides nutrients to the new trees as it decays. As the older tree falls, it creates one of the few canopy breaks in an otherwise shady forest floor. The nurse log lies basking in the sunlight, offering the new seedlings essential light as well as nutrients.

 Logging, especially clearcutting, stops this ecological recycling process and seriously threatens the forest's ability to regenerate. When loggers remove cut trees, they also remove the nutrients that the trees would have returned to the soil. The soil itself will be lost after a rain because it no longer has trees holding it in place. As topsoil is depleted, desertification begins.

Though the redwood forests still support a diverse array of species, including California black bear, mountain lion, Pacific fisher and steelhead trout, logging is taking a severe toll on forest wildlife. Many rare and endangered species also call the redwoods of Humboldt County home, among them the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, pacific giant salamander, tailed frog and coho salmon. Their survival is dependent on a diverse and healthy old-growth forest.

 Carl Ross, co-director of Save America's Forests, the nation's largest grassroots forest protection organization, says, "If we fail to protect these last stands of redwoods, we will lose one of the greatest wonders of the living world for all time. Less than 4 percent of native redwoods are still standing, and that tiny percentage is being hacked and cut for the last shred of money that can be sawed from their red roots. If we allow the extinction of these largest of all living things, we will be condemned as a society that knew the price of everything and the value of nothing."

Takeover plunder

 The redwoods of Humboldt County may seem a long way from Houston, and United Savings Association of Texas, but whether the FDIC decides to pursue the connection may determine whether the Headwaters Forest survives.

 There was little need to worry about the Headwaters Forest before Hurwitz's takeover of the Pacific Lumber Company. The family-run business was one of the most economically and environmentally sound timber companies in the United States. Pacific Lumber rarely if ever clearcut; it generally left standing 30 to 50 percent of the timber in a harvested area. This not only created natural canopy break for new growth, it also kept much of the soil stable, increasing the forests' growth potential.

 The company was also generous to its employees. Pacific Lumber rented housing at below market rates to employees and maintained a "no layoff" policy despite downturns in the timber market. The company also funded a very generous pension fund.

 Pacific Lumber's strength soon became its weakness, however. The pension fund was overfunded by $60 million, and, because of its sustainable cutting practices, the company held tremendous assets (old- growth redwoods) that could be liquidated quickly. Assessing Pacific Lumber in 1985, Charles Hurwitz decided it was ripe for a takeover, and he plucked it in the fall of that year.

Almost immediately after the takeover, Hurwitz raided the pension fund and doubled the rate of cutting to pay off the loans and junk bonds used to finance the takeover. If there was any doubt about Hurwitz's intentions and his dedication to preserving the sustainability of his new acquisition, it was cleared up in his first meeting with the workers of Pacific Lumber. Hurwitz was quoted by Time magazine as telling his new employees, "There is the story of the golden rule: he who has the gold rules."

Creative financing

 The story of MAXXAM's takeover of Pacific Lumber is itself a tale of intrigue, shady dealings and questionable business practices. MAXXAM announced that it would make a cash tender offer for Pacific Lumber on September 30, 1985. Drexel, Burnham, Lambert structured the financing, which consisted of a $300 million short-term loan from the Irving Trust Company and $450 million dollars worth of junk bonds sold by Michael Milken's high-yield bond department at Drexel Burnham.

 Shortly after MAXXAM made its offer, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) initiated an investigation into the heavy volume of trading in Pacific Lumber stock which took place in the days before MAXXAM made its offer. A House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation report states that the NYSE investigation uncovered significant evidence of insider trading and parking stock, although no civil or criminal actions were brought against MAXXAM or its associates for their activities related to MAXXAM's purchase of Pacific Lumber.

 The NYSE investigation, the subcommittee's report and subsequent congressional hearings all make a strong case that stock parking took place. Parking stock is the practice of buying stock for another party in order to conceal the identity of the true or eventual owner. If Hurwitz had someone park stock for him, he could have accumulated Pacific Lumber stock anonymously and at a lower price than after the company was put "into play" (when it became known a single party was accumulating large blocks of the company's stock), which would drive the price of stock up almost immediately.

 Boyd Jefferies, former chairperson of the Los Angeles brokerage firm Jeffries Group, Inc., who later pleaded guilty to parking stock for Ivan Boesky, accumulated 539,600 shares of Pacific Lumber stock and sold the shares on September 27 to MCO Holding Company, a Hurwitz-controlled enterprise. Presumably, this purchase gave Hurwitz enough stock to begin the hostile takeover of Pacific Lumber which he commenced three days after MCO purchased the stock.

Hurwitz and Jefferies both deny any prior agreement to park stock, but Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell, D-Michigan, and Representative Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, concluded in October 1987 that it was unlikely that the sale took place without a prior agreement, because the stock was sold well below the trading price on September 27, 1985. Since there had been so much trading before Hurwitz's offer, the stock price had already begun to rise. On September 27, Pacific Lumber was trading at close to $34 per share. In what was probably one of the more philanthropic stock sales ever seen on Wall Street, Jefferies sold the Pacific Lumber stock at $29.10 rather than its market trading price of $34. The discount sale was not attributable to a prior agreement, according to both parties, but apparently to the fact that Boyd Jefferies felt good-hearted that day.

Jefferies' generosity was not enough to ensure the financial stability of the newly acquired company. Though the interest payments on the junk bonds Hurwitz and MAXXAM used to finance the takeover were not due for four years, it was evident soon after the purchase of Pacific Lumber that it would be difficult to cover the debt. The annual interest payment on the junk bonds was more than the historical annual profit of Pacific Lumber.

To make the bonds more attractive to potential bidders, MAXXAM announced it would terminate the pension plan and sell most nontimber assets to pay the bank loan. MAXXAM also decided it would increase Pacific Lumber's timber cutting rate to pay off the junk bonds.

Getting to the pension fund required some slick maneuvering. According to William Bertain, a lawyer representing shareholders in Pacific Lumber and residents of Humboldt County in a suit against Pacific Lumber, the company attempted to protect the pension fund before Hurwitz's raid by declaring that the pension fund's excess $60 million would vest directly to the employees and retirees in the event of a hostile takeover.

Under pressure from a suit by MAXXAM, the Pacific Lumber board of directors agreed to a "friendly takeover," and MAXXAM agreed to defend the Board if it was found to have breached its fiduciary duty to the shareholders. MAXXAM increased its offer by $1.50 a share, for a total increase of approximately $33 million. But since it was now undertaking a friendly takeover, MAXXAM had access to the $60 million excess in the pension fund - so MAXXAM came out $27 million richer, despite the higher price paid.

Hurwitz was later sued by the U.S. Department of Labor and employees for investing Pacific Lumber's pension fund with the now-failed Executive Life Insurance Co. allegedly in return for Executive Life's junk bond financing of the Pacific Lumber takeover. The suit is still pending.

Failing Finances

 Three years after MAXXAM's takeover of Pacific Lumber, another piece of Hurwitz's empire, United Savings Association of Texas, failed. The circumstances of the failure remain hazy. Although MAXXAM's Lamb claims that "USAT's decline can be attributed to a decline in the Texas real estate market," the S& L's deep involvement in Michael Milken's junk-bond schemes appears to have been an important factor in its downfall.

 By the time USAT failed in 1988, Hurwitz had already gained the attention of regulators. In 1971, Hurwitz was sued by the Security and Exchange Commission for alleged stock manipulation, and charged by New York State regulators with looting Summit Insurance Company. Hurwitz was not found guilty in either case.

 In the three years prior to its failure, USAT purchased more than $1.3 billion worth of junk bonds underwritten by Drexel Burnham. During those same years, the Milken group raised about $1.8 billion for Charles Hurwitz and his takeover ventures, including the takeover of Pacific Lumber, according to a FDIC lawsuit against Michael Milken.

 The FDIC told the United Financial Group (UFG) that the company and its officers are liable for breach of fiduciary duty for wrongfully failing to maintain the net worth of a failed savings and loan. The FDIC also alleges that Hurwitz used USAT to aid Michael Milken's scheme to manipulate the junk bond market. And the FDIC accused UFG of wrongfully causing USAT to pay dividends to UFG.

 At the time of the failure, MAXXAM owned approximately 22 percent of USAT and 28 percent of United Financial Group, the thrift's holding company. Charles Hurwitz was chair of both MAXXAM and UFG when USAT failed.

The questions of propriety surrounding the takeover of Pacific Lumber and the collapse of USAT may provide hope for the preservation of the Headwaters Forest, as Congress and environmentalists try to fashion a response to Hurwitz's demands.

 One possibility is for the government to accede to the proposal for a $600 million cash buyout of the forest. The Headwaters Forest Act, introduced by Representative Dan Hamburg, D-California, would authorize the Department of Agriculture to buy 44,000 acres of the forest. Because of Congress's understandable reluctance to pay $600 million, the bill leaves the amount and method of payment open to negotiation between the Department of Agriculture and Hurwitz.

 Hamburg's bill has passed the House of Representatives and Senator Barbara Boxer, D- California, has introduced a Senate version of Hamburg's bill, but it currently has no co-sponsors.

 Another, bolder approach would avoid the need for Congress to directly or indirectly authorize funds for the purchase of the Headwaters Forest. Prodded by some environmentalists, Representative Ron Dellums, D-California, Chair of the House Banking Committee Henry Gonzales, D-Texas, and other members of the House have asked the FDIC to consider "disgorging" Pacific Lumber from MAXXAM, on the grounds that MAXXAM's takeover of Pacific Lumber was inextricably bound up with USAT's failure.

 The case for disgorgement, Dellums wrote to FDIC Chairman Andrew Hove, "is based on the assessment that MAXXAM acquired Pacific Lumber as a direct result of certain alleged breaches of fiduciary duties owed United Savings Association of Texas (USAT) by MAXXAM, as controlling stockholder, and by similar alleged breaches of duty on the part of certain overlapping officers and directors." The letter explains, "These alleged breaches include causing USAT to invest heavily in junk bonds underwritten by Drexel, Burnham and Lambert as a quid pro quo for Drexel's underwriting of the bonds MAXXAM used to acquire Pacific Lumber."

 Jill Ratner, a lawyer at the Oakland-based Rose Foundation was the first to look into the idea of disgorgement. According to Ratner, "We based our theory on the FDIC's own allegations in a related case. The FDIC's complaint in FDIC v. Milken alleged that Drexel, Burnham and Lambert and MAXXAM's CEO, Charles Hurwitz, arranged for the S& L [USAT] to purchase millions of dollars of Drexel's underwritten bonds in return for Drexel's securing the financing that allowed MAXXAM to buy out Pacific Lumber. In the end, these alleged interested insider transactions were very much to MAXXAM's advantage and very much to USAT's detriment."

 In sum, Ratner says, "What we're saying is that if the FDIC can prove what it already alleged, MAXXAM should be made to surrender the profit it made on the allegedly improper financing deal, and that profit is Pacific Lumber."

 The FDIC has responded to the calls for disgorgement by stating that it is still reviewing the matter, and that it has entered into an agreement with UFG and others who may be responsible for losses resulting from the failure. The parties have all agreed to hold off legal actions and negotiate toward a settlement.

 Disgorgement would put the Headwaters into federal ownership, but many in the communities throughout Humboldt County would like to see Hurwitz pay for his actions with more than just trees. Darryl Cherney, an Earth First! activist in Garberville, California, has been working on this issue since MAXXAM took over Pacific Lumber. Cherney has a deep disgust for Hurwitz and his business practices. "Hurwitz has pilfered the Pacific Lumber pension fund, ripped off the redwoods, and swindled a savings and loan to do it. We say three strikes and you're out. The only thing that is up for negotiation as far as old growth redwoods are concerned is the length of Hurwitz's jail sentence."


Share:

Obit: ADAM ROY ELLIOT


This Chief of Police is going down in connection to the names surrounding his Mormon Sniper Network.  

Unfortunately the path to Adam Elliot, FBI Frank Doyle Jr. and his Grandfather Major General Dan Helix is bound via their mutual connection to the the Centennial Games in Atlanta, Los Angles, and Salt Lake City where one of former peers after Irwin Home Equity was killed like so many others rear ended by a Semi_Truck just outside of Las Vegas. 

ADAM ROY ELLIOT former Clayton Valley High School 

The unfortunate deaths of numerous students bears remarkable similarities on Contra Costa County resident.  Pete Bennett and Dan Helix of Concord who is the grandfather of Adam was like Bennett v. Southern Pacific was embroiled in ligation with BNSF connected to a 1986 deal with Southern Pacific Transportation.

Bennett and Helix each have relatives that went to sleep.  Each us knew City Attorney Mark Coon who committed suicide in Walnut Creek CA. 
Adam R. Elliot
Resident of Sacramento
ADAM ROY ELLIOT pitched for the NY Mets minor league, MVP Clayton Valley High School 2001, 2002, MVP CABA High School World Series 2001, Defensive MVP in the USSSA Championships 2010. His last at bat was a grand slam on June 22, 2013. Adam, 29, died in his sleep on June 25, 2013 in Las Vegas. After retiring from pro baseball in 2005, he worked in the construction field. Besides baseball and softball, Adam loved to fish, play golf, the shooting range, loved AJ and Nikita (his dogs), Dice w/Buddies, and basically any game you put in front of him. Adam was the ultimate gamer, w/an "its all good" "I got this" attitude. Adam often spent time coaching and encouraging young players. He had a generous, giving and loving nature. Adam was jovial with an infectious personality. His charming grin and golden heart had adults adopting him as their son and children holding him up as their role model. There is no question that, like some of our heroes who were taken from us too early, Adam has left his mark. Go to www.softballcenter/adam-elliot/ to share with friends and family. Adam is survived by his loving mother Mary Lou Elliot, father David Elliot Orlinsky, brother Michael Orlinsky, half sister Liat Orlinsky, grandparents Dan and Mary Lou Helix and Rina Orlinsky, fiancé Catia Saraiva, godparents Ken and Diane Caillat, Uncles Ethan Orlinsky and Dan Helix, cousins Dustin Mozian, Zachary, Candace and Spencer Helix. Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 1:30 PM at Hillside Covenant Church, 2060 Magnolia Way, Walnut Creek. Memorials can be made to the Community Youth Center of Concord who was like family to Adam.
Share:

Bennett v. Southern, CEO Steve Burd, Roseville Train Bomb and Sterling Hall Bombing (murder)

Pete Bennett was contacted by Safeway Store Development via his full page ad in the 1982 Contra Costa Central Yellow Page.

By 1987 the amount of contract flow via all his customers reached into the millions.  He was considering expansion within months of his July 1987 expansion.  During litigation in the Matter of Bennett v. Southern Pacific millions in contracts were lost.  Along the way several similar sounding companies popped up.

Learn how FBI Agent Frank Doyle Jr and FBI.connects to the same centennial bombings under the command of Major General Dan Helix. 

One company leads to an address in San Ramon CA owned by a Mormon Attorney known to Bennett, his wife and sons but also worked with Steve Burd at Southern Pacific between 1973 to sometime around 1986.  That also means that former Mayor Dan Helix of Concord Ca would be knowledgeable of the contractual arrangement between Helix and SP.

In 1986 Helix was given a sweetheart land deal on the old iron horse trail between Treat Blvd and Solano Way up to Hwy 4.  In 2013, Adam Elliot the grandson of Mr. Helix of unknown causes. His son attended Clayton Valley High School where decedent Charles Silverman  died in a tragic accident, is the same school where Samantha Lewis attended before attending Chico State.  Ms. Lewis was tragically hit by a train but on October 31st, 2019 five persons perished in the Halloween Mansion Party where once again one victim and his family perished connect to Clayton Valley High School.

That case under investigation looks on the surface to be another Contra Costa Hate Crime incident. Time will tell what really happened but the lack of discussion on suspect bears ominous tones.

Steven Burd

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Steven Burd
Barack Obama meets with business leaders 5-12-09.jpg
Burd (middle) meets with President Barack Obama along with other business leaders on May 12, 2009.
Born
Steven A. Burd

1949 (age 69–70)[citation needed]
ResidenceCalifornia, U.S.
Alma materCarroll University (B. S.)
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (M. A.)
OccupationPresident, Chairman & CEO at Safeway Inc (1992–2013), President & CEO at Burd Health LLC (2013-present)
Political partyRepublican[citation needed]
Board member ofKohl's
Steven A. Burd (born 1949) is an American businessman.[1] He served as Chairman, President and CEO of Safeway Inc. from October 26, 1992 to May 14, 2013.[1][2] He is a member of the Republican Party.[citation needed]
text

Early life[edit]

Burd has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Carroll University in 1971[3] and a master's degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1973.[4][5]

Career[edit]

Burd was President of Safeway from October 26, 1992 until May 14, 2013, and CEO from April 30, 1993 until May 14, 2013.[2] He joined the Board of Directors on September 7, 1993 and served as Chairman of the Board between May 12, 1998 and May 14, 2013.[2] While CEO of Safeway in 2009, he earned a total compensation of $10,901,892, which included a base salary of $1,449,000, a cash bonus of $358,627, stock awards of $491,611 and options granted of $6,922,200. Steven Burd will receive another $7.5 million in stock as a result of the transaction that combines Safeway and Albertsons supermarket chain. [1]
Burd spearheaded the innovative "Healthy Measures" insurance plan offered to Safeway employees.[6] In this plan, employees get discounts on their health insurance if they show qualified performance in four "tests": tobacco usage, healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.[6] Employees can get as much as an $800 annual premium reduction. He founded the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform in order to promote similar health policies nationally.[6]
In January 2010, the Washington Post reported that Burd's assertion in June 2009[6] that Safeway's per capita health-care costs between 2005 and 2009 were flat was in fact true, but had nothing to do with incentives for employees. Those incentives weren't implemented until 2009, and the company forecast that per capita expenses for its employees would rise by 8.5 percent for the 2009 year.[7]
As of 2013, Burd sits on the Board of Directors of Kohl's.[1][2] In September 2013, Burd also founded Burd Health LLC with the intent to help companies lower the costs of their own healthcare plans.

Theranos Scandal[edit]

Burd led the initiative to partner with Theranos and build wellness centers in Safeway stores. The deal made SafeWay the exclusive grocery store provider of Theranos technology and spawned a secret, internal project called “T-Rex” to create wellness centers in their stores. Safeway spent $350 million dollars renovating over 800 stores to support these centers. According to former employees, he managed the partnership directly with Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. 
In 2012, Burd told investors and that the grocery chain was “contemplating a significant…wellness play.” During the implementation of the project, Safeway had Theranos conduct blood testing at their headquarters clinic that compared Theranos test results with those of traditional blood testing methods. However, these results showed inconsistencies between the two methods. According to two former executives, Burd was told about the inconsistent results. Burd told them that he had been reassured by Elizabeth Holmes and continued to support the project. 
In April 2013, when asked by analysts about the wellness play he had alluded to in earlier calls, he said “It hasn’t happened yet.” Burd retired from Safeway the next month. No Theranos devices were ever successfully deployed in Safeway stores and in November 2015, Safeway and Theranos formally ended their relationship.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Burd is married to Chris and has two children. He is a born-again Christian[9] and lives in Alamo, California.[10]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up to:a b c "Forbes". Forbes. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  2. Jump up to:a b c d "Safeway Board of Directors". Safeway.com. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  3. ^ Steven A. Burd '71, 1996 Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement , Carroll University
  4. ^ A Few of UWM's Noted Alumni, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
  5. ^ Steven A Burd, Forbes
  6. Jump up to:a b c d Steven A. Burd, How Safeway Is Cutting Health-Care CostsThe Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2009
  7. ^ Hilzenrath, David S. (January 17, 2010). "Misleading claims about Safeway wellness incentives shape health-care bill"Washington Post. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  8. ^ Carreyrou, John (2015-11-11). "Safeway, Theranos Split After $350 Million Deal Fizzles"Wall Street JournalISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  9. ^ http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/A-E/Burd-Steven-A-1949.html
  10. ^ Former Safeway President Among East Bay’s Biggest Water Users « CBS San Francisco Retrieved 2016-11-21.
Share:

Anchor links for post titles

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Labels

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Labels

Recent Posts

Pages

Labels

Blog Archive

Recent Posts