By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff Monday, January 25th, 2010

Stephen Adams, owner of Affinity Group in Ventura and former owner of the failed Affinity Bank, appears to have defaulted on his $75 million gift to Westmont College, slamming the brakes on the school’s most ambitious building project in a quarter century.

Though Westmont could not confirm it, Adams is believed to be the man behind the massive donation to the Montecito school in 2006. Adams’ other big gift, $100 million given to the Yale University School of Music, continues as planned, according to that school.

A reclusive Montecito resident, Adams built his fortune through a nationwide billboard business, boat and motorcycle magazines and a discount club for recreational vehicle enthusiasts. He’s granted a few interviews in France surrounding his purchase of a Bordeaux vineyard, but Adams was traveling and couldn’t be reached for this story.

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