GUESS WHO’S RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR: Georges Marciano, the Beverly Hills-based entrepreneur who co-founded Guess Inc., is making a run for the California governor’s office. Marciano, 62, announced his candidacy as an Independent on Tuesday, joining former eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom among the potential high-profile contenders vying to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the top political office in the country’s most populous state. Rod Harrell, Marciano’s campaign manager, said Marciano’s political platform is built on the idea of creating jobs and not increasing taxes for the average citizen. “He doesn’t need it nor does he want fame out of this,” Harrell said of his boss. “It’s more about doing things for the people of the state.”

Politician is the latest career for Marciano, who arrived in Los Angeles from the South of France in 1977. Five years later, he started Guess with his brothers, Paul and Maurice. In 1992, he left Guess, where he had handled merchandising. Maurice, Paul and another brother, Armand, subsequently bought his shares for $240 million. Since then, Georges Marciano has been working in real estate as an owner of commercial buildings. He’s also been avidly collecting art and jewelry, including an 84.37-carat diamond for which he paid $16.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 1997.