Youth marketing guru caught up in scandal

Jane Buckingham allegedly paid to have a test taken for her son so that he would qualify for USC.

For years, Hollywood turned to marketing guru Jane Buckingham to find out what kids really want, drawing on her extensive expertise on the youth zeitgeist. She once charged $2,500 a head to attend her Trend School, a seminar focusing on the consumption habits of Generations X and Y.

But Buckingham, 50, now faces federal charges that she was involved in the widespread college admissions scheme that has ensnared Hollywood celebrities and shined a light on how wealthy parents allegedly paid bribes to give their children an advantage in the competitive process.

Buckingham, who once wrote a book titled “The Modern Girl’s Guide to Sticky Situations,” wanted desperately for her son to attend USC. So the Los Angeles marketing maven — once called the Martha Stewart of the younger generation — turned to William “Rick” Singer, a college admissions advisor, to help her son score high on the ACT test, prosecutors alleged.

Together, they allegedly arranged for Buckingham to make a $50,000 donation to a charitable organization in exchange for someone to take the test in place of her son, according to charges filed by Justice Department officials on Tuesday.

The substitute test-taker scored a 35 for the son — in the 99th percentile.

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among those facing charges, as well as Bill McGlashan, founder of TPG Growth, a division of private equity firm TPG Capital.

The defendants allegedly tried to get their kids into top-tier schools, including USC, UCLA, Yale and Georgetown.

The Justice Department alleged in its filing Tuesday that Buckingham paid $50,000 to Key Worldwide Foundation, the Newport Beach charity run by Singer. In all, parents paid Singer about $25 million, according to officials.

Wiretapped phone transcripts released by officials showed Buckingham arranging the logistics for the individual to take the test for Buckingham’s son and for the payments.

At one point, she asked whether it would be possible for her to obtain a copy of the exam that she could have her son take at home so that he would believe he had taken the test, while the other person took the actual exam on his behalf. She provided her son’s handwriting samples.

As a youth marketing expert in Hollywood, Buckingham created the Intelligence Group, a firm that published the Cassandra Report, a thrice-yearly marketing study on the teen demographic. She sold the Intelligence Report to Creative Artists Agency before she launched the boutique marketing firm Trendera in 2009.

It was unclear whether Buckingham was still at Trendera following Tuesday’s charges.

McGlashan, managing partner at prominent investment firm TPG Growth, also has been caught up in the scandal.

McGlashan, who is accused of donating $50,000 to Key Worldwide Foundation, is a co-founder of STX Entertainment.

TPG recently led a round of more than $100 million in new equity financing for STX. An email sent to STX staff on Wednesday said McGlashan had stepped down from its board.

McGlashan is also the cofounder of Evolution Media, an investment and advisory firm TPG launched with talent firm CAA, in which TPG is a major investor.