Who Put the K in Klaremont?

In 1998 the Claremont Resort and Spa was purchased by KSL Recreation Corp. KSL owns some of the largest resorts in the world. It is currently in negotiations with the City of Oakland to develop the Lake Chabot Municipal Golf Course. This multimillion dollar deal has been hotly contested by both neighbors and golfers, whose fees would skyrocket under the proposed contract (see Lake Chabot Golf Course and the Claremont). KSL is in turn owned by KKR and Co. The K in both companies stands for Kravis. Henry Kravis is world famous for inventing the leveraged buyout in the 1980s. KKR has approximately 58.5 billion dollars in assets. It owns about 30 national and multinational corporations, including Safeway.

KKR also owns Zhone Technologies, a communications equipment startup company based in Oakland. With 500 million dollars in startup capital, they have the largest equity financing ever raised by a communications equipment startup.

In Feb., Mayor Jerry Brown attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Zhone's new campus. [Z hone press release2/2/00] Zhone is putting up 4 multistory buildings with 300,000 square feet, for up to 1500 employees, with space for manufacturing as well as offices. Brown had nothing but praise for Zhone, which has apparently donated technology to public recreation centers and schools in Oakland.

[Information from KKR and Zhone websites]