"Come April the voters will begin to take great interest in the (2010 gubernatorial) race, and that is where you want to spend the money and connect with the message. Steve is a billionaire, and his (campaign) is willing to spend as he as in the past for Republican causes across the state."
Poizner gubernatorial campaign chairman Jim Brulte recently made the remarks above to conservative blogger Eric Hogue, who reported them in a piece about the 2010 Governor's race.
We've all heard that story, haven't we?
Poizner, the Insurance Commissioner, is a self-made entrepreneur who became a billionaire when he sold his Silicon Valley start-up to Qualcomm Inc. in 2000.
Or did he?
Poizner is a documented multi-millionaire, no doubt about that. But how he slowly became "a billionaire" in the California political landscape and media, is very odd.
Blame it on the Bay area political press, which started calling him the "billionaire GOP candidate" back in 2004 when he ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly. (Full disclosure: The Bee picked up the billionaire moniker in 2006 and has repeated it more than 30 times.)
Or blame it on Poizner's campaign team. ( Step forward, Mr. Brulte.)
The problem is Poizner is not actually a billionaire, according to a review of securities filings and other financial records of his past business dealings.
When Poizner sold his stake in his high tech company, SnapTrack Inc., on March 1, 2000, he and other shareholders received 7.4 million Qualcomm shares in the deal.
Poizner's personal share was 1,415,337 Qualcomm shares, securities filings show.
He sold them at a time Qualcomm stock fetched about $157.50 each. So, he grossed $222.9 million pre-tax, giving him a few bucks shy of . . . one quarter billion dollars.
Poizner openly admitted months ago he's not as rich as his eBay nemesis, the bona fide billionaire Meg Whitman, but refused to put a number on his still considerable net worth.
Speaking to a group of reporters at the Silicon Valley Leadership Forum on Sept. 16, Poizner went out of his way to correct the false impression that had taken root among the political reporters - possibly started by reporters.
I'm not a billionaire, he said, explaining that he had merely sold his firm for $1 billion and then shared the proceeds with other shareholders and venture capital backers.
It seems Brulte just didn't get that memo or news conference transcript.
Asked why Brulte continued to call Poizner a billionaire, despite Poizner's warning in September that he actually isn't, campaign spokesman Jarrod Agen replied: "He misspoke and it is inaccurate to say that Steve is a billionaire."
Agen then explained Brulte was just making the point that "Steve is fully committed to this race and willing to make a sizable personal contribution as Steve has clearly demonstrated."
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