Henry Nicholas

Billionaire Initiative Funder Pleads Not Guilty

Joe Mathews — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:28:00 -0400

Henry Nicholas, the billionaire Broadcom founder and funder of "tough on crime" ballot initiatives in California, has pleaded not guilty to securities and drug charges. For those interested in the case, you might check out the excellent work that Orange County Register reporter John Gittelsohn (a former competitor and friend of your blogger) has done on this subject.

The Two Henry Nicholases

Joe Mathews — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:35:00 -0400

In the Los Angeles Times, friend of the blog Robert Greene looks at the billionaire anti-crime initiative sponsor who now faces two big federal indictments.

Investigation Needed: Was "No on 66" Campaign Fueled By Illegal Substances?

Joe Mathews — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:26:00 -0400

Over the last two weeks of October 2004, Gov. Schwarzenegger and billionaire Henry Nicholas led a campiagn to defeat Prop 66, a ballot initiative that would have eased some of the most onerous parts of California's "three strikes" law. With Schwarzenegger's campaigning and Nicholas' money, the "no" campaign made political history, taking an initiative that seemed certain to pass and sending it to a shocking defeat. The "no" vote grew by nearly 30 points in two weeks. Independent pollsters say they have never seen such dramatic movement in a ballot initiative.

Nicholas' behavior during those two weeks was strange. He seemed to work all night, rarely sleeping. With the assistance of then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Nicholas pulled an all-nighter in the Long Beach home studio of a rock musician to make "No on 66" radio ads. He then started calling radio stations over the last weekend, begging managers to broadcast the ads despite full slates. It all seemed manic, but Nicholas told me at the time he simply had a passion for crime victims. Now a new indictment of Nicholas suggests a different explanation for his behavior: drugs. Nicholas, who first drew the attention of the federal government because of a stock option backdating problem at his firm Broadcom, is charged with distributing drugs between 1999 and 2005--a period that covers the time of the No on 66 campaign. There's no indication that California authorities have looked at whether any of Nicholas' business or personal activities had any financial impact on the campaign. Maybe they should. If he was trafficking in drugs, did any money from that end up in the "No on 66" effort?

Major Initiative Funder in California Checks into Rehab

Joe Mathews — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:28:00 -0400

Billionaire Henry Nicholas, founder of broadcom, has checked into the Betty Ford Center for alcohol rehabilitation, the Orange County Register reports. He's funded two crime-themed initiatives this year: the victims rights' measure (currently paying $2 a sig on the street) and an anti-gang measure. In 2004, Nicholas and Gov. Schwarzenegger led an expensive last-minute campaign to defeat Prop 66, a measure to change the state's three strikes law. The measure lost more than 20 points in the polls in the last 10 days.