McCaw's shedding of some assets called 'opportunity'

Wireless pioneer Craig McCaw may be selling off planes, houses — even an island — but some say they doubt he's in financial trouble.

Over the past two years, the founder of McCaw Cellular — which he sold in 1994 to AT&T — has sold a number of personal assets worth millions.

That comes at a time when McCaw's net worth has fallen from $7.7 to $2.7 billion in the past year, according to Forbes, as the value of the stock in his companies has plummeted.

McCaw's companies Eagle River Investments, Craig McCaw's investment-management company based in Kirkland. New ICO, a London-based company building a satellite network to provide global wireless-phone service. Nextel Communications, a wireless carrier based in Reston, Va. Nextel Partners, a Kirkland-based wireless carrier that focuses on rural and smaller markets. Teledesic, a Bellevue-based company building a satellite network to provide fixed wireless Internet service. XO Communications, a broadband communications services-company based in Reston, Va.

"Craig said, 'I see where this economy's going. Let's take these appreciated assets and turn them into cash,' " said McCaw spokesman Bob Ratliffe. "In his mind the investment opportunities are going to be very good to buy undervalued telecom assets."

McCaw's wireless carrier Nextel Communications has seen its stock drop 82 percent in the past year. His fiber-optics network provider, XO Communications, has fallen 98 percent in share price over the same period.

McCaw — chief executive of satellite companies Teledesic and New ICO — has sold two homes in Hunts Point, one for $20 million, the other for $7 million. He still lives in Hunts Point, in a home he bought from musician Kenny G.

He's now looking for a conservation group to buy a $40 million 5,000-acre undeveloped ranch in Carmel, Calif. And he is selling 780-acre James Island, off Vancouver Island.

McCaw has also sold several planes, including a Gulfstream G-5, for about $38 million, and a Bombardier Global Express, and he is selling a Boeing 737. Ratliffe says McCaw, a flying aficionado who owns a flight center at Boeing Field, buys or sells a plane about every 90 days.

His 300-foot yacht Tatoosh, which comes equipped with two helicopter landing pads, was recently sold for $100 million to Paul Allen, according to the New York Times.

Added together, it gives off hints of a distress sale. But the most recent reports of his demise may be exaggerated.

"There's 20 years of background on how Craig has managed to repackage debt, sell a little of this, hold onto a little of that and do better than anybody else," said O. Casey Corr, author of the McCaw biography "Money from Thin Air" and former Seattle Times writer.

"People have been predicting his demise throughout his career," Corr added. In the early '90s, he points out, wireless stocks plummeted following McCaw Cellular's acquisition of LIN Broadcasting, and the company's market value fell from $4.5 billion to $2 billion.

For entrepreneurs who built their fortunes on taking risks where no one else would venture, wild fluctuations in wealth are par for the course.

"These guys just thrive on it," Corr says. "I would not predict the worst for Craig. All I would predict are more surprises."

Sharon Pian Chan can be reached at 206-464-2958 or at schan@seattletimes.com.

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McCaw's companies