Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bloomberg Endorsement of San Diego's Fletcher Focuses Spotlight on New York Intrigue

News late today that New York's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg had endorsed newly-minted independent California Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher for mayor of San Diego caught many by surprise.

But whether or not Bloomberg's backing can lift the 35-year-old Fletcher from his current third place standing in at least one poll, the move is almost certain to draw attention to an intrigue-fllled New York deal involving Bloomberg and La Jolla's Irwin Jacobs, the billionaire founder of Qualcomm, Inc.

Jacobs has endorsed Bonnie Dumanis in the mayor's race, but virtually everyone else at Qualcomm, including Irwin's son, Qualcomm chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs, his brothers, and assorted spouses, family members, and company employees have come out for Fletcher.

Even Irwin Jacobs himself, despite his professed support for Dumanis, gave Fletcher $500 on March 28; his wife Joan kicked in the same on March 17, according to campaign contribution data posted online by the San Diego city clerk's office.

So it may seem to some more than just a coincidence that the senior Jacobs happens to be a key backer of the New York mayor's favorite hometown project, one with a $2 billion price tag.

On December 20 of last year, Bloomberg announced he had chosen Cornell University to develop an enormous high-tech graduate school and support complex on New York's Roosevelt Island, rejecting a competing proposal made by California's Stanford University, which dropped its bid several days before Bloomberg's announcement.

“Today will be remembered as a defining moment,” Bloomberg told a news conference. “In a word, this project is going to be transformative.”

The giant project is to be built by Cornell with an Israeli partner, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

According to the Times, Irwin Jacobs, a Cornell alumnus, class of '54, played a key role in putting together a secret plan to bid for the project in conjunction with the Israelis.

"It turned out that a surprising number of professors at each institution had studied or taught at the other," the Times reported.

"They shared major benefactors, including Irwin Jacobs,  a cofounder of the telecommunications technology firm Qualcomm, whose advice they would seek on the project."

Money, and the prospect of raising a billion dollars or so more, played a major role in Bloomberg's selection of Cornell over Stanford, according to the Times.

"Stanford, seen as an early front-runner, balked at meeting some of the city’s conditions during negotiations in recent weeks," the paper reported.

"City officials also said it was not clear that Stanford’s entire team — administration, faculty and alumni — was as wholeheartedly behind the project as Cornell’s people were, measured in part by Cornell’s ability to raise money for it."

Irwin Jacobs and his wife Joan, Cornell '52, have been repeatedly recognized by the Ivy League university for their philanthropy.

In 2008, the couple, along with son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs (parents of Adam Jacobs '08), received the Tanner Prize from Cornell Hillel for "their significant contributions to the Jewish people and to Cornell," according to a news release posted on Cornell's website.

In 2006, they gave $30 million to endow scholarships to the Ithaca, New York university's engineering school.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024

News late today that New York's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg had endorsed newly-minted independent California Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher for mayor of San Diego caught many by surprise.

But whether or not Bloomberg's backing can lift the 35-year-old Fletcher from his current third place standing in at least one poll, the move is almost certain to draw attention to an intrigue-fllled New York deal involving Bloomberg and La Jolla's Irwin Jacobs, the billionaire founder of Qualcomm, Inc.

Jacobs has endorsed Bonnie Dumanis in the mayor's race, but virtually everyone else at Qualcomm, including Irwin's son, Qualcomm chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs, his brothers, and assorted spouses, family members, and company employees have come out for Fletcher.

Even Irwin Jacobs himself, despite his professed support for Dumanis, gave Fletcher $500 on March 28; his wife Joan kicked in the same on March 17, according to campaign contribution data posted online by the San Diego city clerk's office.

So it may seem to some more than just a coincidence that the senior Jacobs happens to be a key backer of the New York mayor's favorite hometown project, one with a $2 billion price tag.

On December 20 of last year, Bloomberg announced he had chosen Cornell University to develop an enormous high-tech graduate school and support complex on New York's Roosevelt Island, rejecting a competing proposal made by California's Stanford University, which dropped its bid several days before Bloomberg's announcement.

“Today will be remembered as a defining moment,” Bloomberg told a news conference. “In a word, this project is going to be transformative.”

The giant project is to be built by Cornell with an Israeli partner, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

According to the Times, Irwin Jacobs, a Cornell alumnus, class of '54, played a key role in putting together a secret plan to bid for the project in conjunction with the Israelis.

"It turned out that a surprising number of professors at each institution had studied or taught at the other," the Times reported.

"They shared major benefactors, including Irwin Jacobs,  a cofounder of the telecommunications technology firm Qualcomm, whose advice they would seek on the project."

Money, and the prospect of raising a billion dollars or so more, played a major role in Bloomberg's selection of Cornell over Stanford, according to the Times.

"Stanford, seen as an early front-runner, balked at meeting some of the city’s conditions during negotiations in recent weeks," the paper reported.

"City officials also said it was not clear that Stanford’s entire team — administration, faculty and alumni — was as wholeheartedly behind the project as Cornell’s people were, measured in part by Cornell’s ability to raise money for it."

Irwin Jacobs and his wife Joan, Cornell '52, have been repeatedly recognized by the Ivy League university for their philanthropy.

In 2008, the couple, along with son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs (parents of Adam Jacobs '08), received the Tanner Prize from Cornell Hillel for "their significant contributions to the Jewish people and to Cornell," according to a news release posted on Cornell's website.

In 2006, they gave $30 million to endow scholarships to the Ithaca, New York university's engineering school.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.