Richard T. Silberman is an American businessman and political figure. He was a major investor in the

Jack in the Box Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast ...

fast food chain and helped fund its expansion. He then served as an aide and campaign fundraiser for California governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

. In 1990 he pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder purported drug profits.

Business

A native of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, Silberman graduated from

San Diego State College San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

with a degree in physics. In 1946 he earned his master's degree from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He led

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, it ...

's electronic and computer guided missile program until 1952, when he was named president of Kay Lab. In 1960, Silberman and Charles E. Salik began selling stock in Electronics International Capital, a business based in the

tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

that was formed to invest in European electronics companies. After some poor investments, Silberman hired

Paul Erdman Paul Emil Erdman was a Canadian-born American economist and banker who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and international finance. Early life Erdman was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, on 19 May 1932 to American parents ...

to help turn things around. Silberman and Salik were eventually removed from the company in a coup orchestrated by

Jerome Kohlberg Jr. Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (July 10, 1925 – July 30, 2015) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early pioneer in the private equity and leveraged buyout industries founding private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and later Koh ...

In 1965, Silberman became a general partner of Jack in the Box and helped finance the expansion of the fast food chain. In 1968 the company was sold to

Ralston Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Fri ...

for $58 million. Soon thereafter, Silberman and Jack in the Box founder

Robert O. Peterson Robert Oscar Peterson (March 13, 1916 – April 18, 1994) was an American businessman and philanthropist. As the founder of the Jack in the Box restaurant chain, he popularized the drive-through fast food restaurant concept. He is credited with ...

purchased First National Bank. In 1975 the bank was sold to

The Bank of Tokyo was a Japanese foreign exchange bank that operated from 1946 to 1996. In January 1996, it merged with Mitsubishi Bank to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (now MUFG Bank). Its headquarters was in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo, adjacent to the ...

, which renamed it again as Union Bank. After leaving the governor's office, Silberman became an chairman and chief executive officer of Yuba Natural Resources Inc..

Politics

Silberman's political involvement began in 1963, when he was appointed to the

San Diego Unified School District San Diego Unified School District (formerly known as San Diego City Schools) is the school district based in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1854. As of 2005 it represents over 200 institutions and has over 15,800 employee ...

Board of Education. He later served as chairman of the San Diego Stadium Authority. In 1975, Silberman backed mayor

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California bet ...

for reelection and Wilson appointed Silberman to chair the Centre City Development Corp. and the San Diego Transit Authority. Silberman served as financial chairman for California Governor

's 1976 presidential campaign. The following year, Brown appointed Silberman to the position of state secretary of Business and Transportation. In 1978 he served as Brown's interim chief of staff while

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

managed the Governor's reelection campaign. Later that year, Brown appointed Silberman to the position of state Director of Finance. He stepped down in August 1979 to serve as co-chair of Brown's 1980 presidential

exploratory committee In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for pre ...

. In 1984, Silberman married Republican politician

Susan Golding Susan G. Golding (born August 18, 1945) is an American Republican politician from California, best known as the former two-term mayor of San Diego. She is currently president and CEO of the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation in San Diego. and for ...

. Silberman's marriage to Golding led to him and Robert O. Peterson severing ties, as one of Golding's political rivals was Peterson's wife

Maureen O'Connor Maureen O'Connor (born August 7, 1951) is an American lawyer and judge serving as the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. She was elected to the court in 2002, becoming chief justice in 2010. Prior to this, O'Connor served as an associate ...

. Silberman and Golding divorced in 1991.

Legal issues

In 1979, the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

sought $278,982 in back taxes from Silberman and his ex-wife. The agency alleged that Silberman had over-valued 917 acres of land he and four associates had donated to a non-profit. On April 7, 1989, Silberman was arrested on money laundering charges. According to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

, Silberman had agreed to launder over $1 million he believed came from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n cocaine traffickers. On June 28, 1990, Silberman was found guilty on one count of violating currency reporting laws. However, the jury was unable to return a verdict on five other counts. That September he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder purported drug profits in exchange for the government dropping the other four charges. He was sentenced to 46 months in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silberman, Richard American food industry businesspeople American people convicted of money laundering American technology businesspeople American prisoners and detainees Businesspeople from San Diego California Democrats California Directors of Finance Ohio State University alumni San Diego State University alumni Chiefs of staff to the governor of California Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government