Shopping mall developer Rick Caruso can buy just about anything he wants without first balancing his checkbook.
His $100 million yacht didn't come close to breaking the bank, and the billionaire Brentwood resident has owned spreads in Malibu and Newport Beach as well, along with a Montecito hotel where rooms can run around $10,000 a night.
For all his money, though, and after spending roughly $40 million on his L.A. mayoral campaign in the last six months, he hasn't been able to buy the lead.
