Lifestyle of a hedge-fund real estate baron

In the rarified circles of La Jolla mega-money men, it isn't the length of the luxury car you drive or the sprawling estate you live in that conveys power over the lives of your fellow San Diegans, residing — both figuratively and literally — far below the heights occupied by the one-percenters.

A private jet, allowing the owner to whisk between cities around the world closing deals with fellow well-heeled moguls or zipping off for a quick ski in the Rockies, is virtually mandatory for the super-rich here.

Alex Spanos, who bought the Chargers from L.A. property- and movie-theater magnate Gene Klein in 1984, was a serial jet owner, as was Klein.

"It was a beautiful machine," wrote onetime Chargers team psychiatrist Dr. Arnold J. Mandell of Klein's well-appointed aerial chariot in his 1976 best-selling tell-all, The Nightmare Season, chronicling rampant drug use in the NFL.

"There were eight seats, upholstered to match the silver-blue carpet, arranged in pairs, facing one another along each side. Small rectangular tables secured between each pair had holes for glasses. Decks of cards, pencils and pads were waiting. At the tail end was the bathroom. The micro-galley was between the main cabin and the cockpit. There was a jump seat up front between the pilots. On a couple of more carefree occasions, I had enjoyed mystical experiences riding there during takeoffs and landings."

These days, given major advancements in the art and cost of private luxury flying, Klein would likely be kicked out of the NFL for owning such humble wings.

A currently popular must-have for self-respecting jet-setting wheeler dealers is the dual-engine, typically eight-passenger, Gulfstream G200, originally put together by Israel Aircraft Industries in conjunction with Russia's Yakolev.

Originally priced at about $18 million off the factory floor, the so-called super mid-sized private jet can today be had, made-over as new, for a measly $6 million or so and has long been the choice of many discerning fat cats.

"Three possible cabin layouts are available: double club four; single club four with conference grouping opposite a berthable divan; and club four with half club and divan," wrote Business Jet Traveler in October 2007.

"You'll find master cabin controls at the VIP seat location, three 110-volt outlets throughout the cabin with adjacent data ports and a 15-inch LCD monitor embedded in the forward cabin bulkhead. The standard entertainment setup includes two DVD players, a CD player and Airshow 400. G200s can be fitted for Satcom, XM satellite radio and high-speed Internet."

Federal aviation records show two G200s currently registered in La Jolla's 92037 zip code, one of them in the name of Joan T. Waitt, ex-wife of Gateway Computer founder Ted Waitt, and the other to Ptolemy Advisory, L.L.C.

That firm is managed, according to state corporation records, by Mike Stone, the hedge-fund master formerly of Wall Street's J.H. Whitney & Co. now masterminding the controversial SoccerCity signature drive to get the city council to turn over custody of Mission Valley's Qualcomm Stadium.

Ptolemy's G200, built in 2006, boasts a unique provenance, having been transferred to the firm in July 2015 by San Diego's high-flying Oliver McMillan development company, which acquired the tony craft in October 2012, per FlightAware’s website.

As earlier reported here, Oliver McMillan principal Morgan Dene Oliver has played a major behind-the-scenes role in alluring San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer to the side of Stone's Mission Valley development plans with gourmet grub served in a posh private dining room well before the deal's prickly terms were surfaced for public consumption.

A video posted on YouTube in November of last year shows Ptolemy’s jet, which bears tail number N204DD, during a stop at the Rocky Mountain Metro Airport near Denver, Colorado.

Other recent high-dollar vacation and residential destinations recently visited by the craft include Coachella Valley's Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport; Grand Junction Regional Airport, a two-hour drive from Telluride, Colorado; and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Not to be outdone in the air war for the lucrative 165-acre patch of public land currently occupied by Qualcomm Stadium is yet another La Jolla high-flier, ex–Union-Tribune owner, Republican kingpin, and frequently rumored future Bahamas ambassador Doug Manchester, who last week announced he was putting together his own plan to redevelop the property, including a place for an NFL team in a renovated Qualcomm.

On Tuesday, February 28, the day of Donald Trump's first speech to Congress, Manchester's Dassault Falcon 900 tri-jet was in the air to Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia, about 30 miles from Washington. On February 6, it visited Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau.