Greg Orman discloses assets, investments worth millions | The Wichita Eagle

Greg Orman, an Olathe businessman mounting an independent bid for U.S. Senate against Sen. Pat Roberts, has amassed a varied portfolio of investments that range from interactive games to medical technology.

He has between $21.5 million and $86 million in assets and his income ranges from $917,000 to $4.5 million, according to his financial disclosure form filed with the Senate this week and released to The Eagle.

The form requires candidates to list sources of income and other investments, but does not require candidates to say the exact value of an investment. Candidates mark where an investment falls on a range.

The income figures were from Jan. 1, 2013 to Aug. 31 2014, the Orman campaign said Monday.

Orman would not say what his net worth was when asked at a news conference last week.

The minimum asset range — $21.5 million — would appear to put Orman among the top 10 senators in net worth, if he defeats Roberts in November.

Roberts reported in August that he and his wife own assets worth between $1.6 million and $4 million.

Orman’s most valuable holdings by far are in real estate. His stake in Minneapolis-based FRM Associates ranges between $5 million and $25 million, according to his disclosure.

Orman owns this company with Arthur Petrie, a Las Vegas real estate developer, who has given thousands of dollars in campaign donations to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and also donated to Orman’s short run for the Senate as a Democrat in 2007, according to campaign finance data collected by the Sunlight Foundation.

Orman’s disclosure form lists a loan he made to Petrie worth $1 million to $5 million.

Other real estate investments — Bogen Acquisition and Grand Acquisition — fall between $1 million and $5 million. Both of these holdings are owned by GMG Real Estate, a company in which Orman has a controlling stock.

Orman has a 50 percent ownership stake in World Arenas LLC, which owns several properties in Minnesota that house state run medical facilities.

He also owns a vacation property “for investment purposes” in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, worth between $1 million and $5 million, according to his disclosure.

Orman has repeatedly touted his business record on the campaign trail – a news release from his campaign last week referred to the candidate as a businessman four times and said he has a “record of building successful companies and creating jobs in Kansas and around the country.”

His business ventures have also come under scrutiny in recent weeks: one of his companies, Combat Brands, is facing a $30 million lawsuit for trademark infringement from boxing equipment giant Everlast, and another is co-owned by Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs board member who was convicted for insider trading in a high profile case that resulted from investigations by the FBI and SEC.

His campaign has said Orman's decision to invest in Combat Brands saved 50 jobs in Johnson County. It has said the Everlast suit is without merit. His investment in the company is between $1 million and $5 million, according to his disclosure.

Last week, Orman downplayed the venture with Gupta, Exemplar Wealth Management, an Olathe-based bookkeeping company, calling it “a very small investment” that was “under $50,000.”

His disclosure report lists the investment as falling between $15,000 and $50,000.

The Orman campaign said that Exemplar Wealth Management cooperated fully with investigators during the federal probe into Gupta's activities and that Orman himself was never the subject of an SEC investigation.

Orman owns several other companies named Exemplar, including Exemplar Holdings, an umbrella company that owns Combat Brands and several other businesses. Orman’s Senate form lists Olathe as the company’s base, but it is incorporated in Nevada, according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.

Gupta is not connected with Exemplar Holdings, according to the Orman campaign.

“Greg has used the name for ‘Exemplar’ for some of the companies he’s been involved in, but they are not connected to each other beyond their association with Greg,” said Mike Phillips, a spokesman for the campaign. “Obviously, not every company that uses the name Exemplar is associated with Greg.”

Orman’s disclosure form lists a slew of companies with the name: Exemplar Medical, Exemplar Energy, Exemplar Gas Marketing, Exemplar Finance and a defunct company called Exemplar Biotech, which folded in 2012.

Gupta had invested in FRM Associates prior to his conviction but is no longer involved with the company, according to the Orman campaign.

After Gupta’s conviction, Orman temporarily sat as his representative on the board for New Silk Route, a $1.6 billion hedge fund; he stepped down from that post in March, according to his disclosure form. Orman’s campaign noted that New Silk Route was not related to Gupta’s insider trading case.

Open Secrets, a site run by the Center for Responsive Politics, reported that Gupta’s family has donated $26,000 to Orman’s campaign.

As president of Exemplar Holdings, Orman sits on the board of Maxus Realty Trust, based in Kansas City, Mo., which has more than $340 million in total assets, according to its June quarterly report.

Orman draws a salary of $7,900 for his position on the trust’s board but does not have an ownership stake, according to his campaign. His spot on the board stems from a loan Exemplar made to Maxus worth between $200,000 and $500,000.

Contributing: The Associated Press and Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star