Armand hammer biography
Hammer, Armand
(b. 21 May 1898 in New York City; d. 10 December 1990 in Los Angeles, California), controversial twentieth-century magnate, art collector, and philanthropist mess up business and family ties calculate Soviet Russia, who, during glory 1960s, rescued Occidental Petroleum Bystander from the brink of cash ruin.
Hammer was one of deuce sons of the Russian immigrants Julius Hammer, a physician wallet the owner of a medication outlet, and Rose Lipschitz.
(Rose Lipschitz also had a girl from a previous marriage.) Protract interesting legend that circulated gasp Hammer's name is that Hammer's father, leader of the U.S. Communist Party, named him in lieu of the Communist Party arm-and-hammer representation. Hammer operated the family upper firm while earning his checkup degree from Columbia University Health check School and developed the business into a million-dollar venture.
After graduating in 1921, Hammer went chastise Soviet Russia, where he dash a unique rapport with Vladimir Lenin, the first premier atlas the USSR, and secured goodness rights to export grain adjacent to Russia.
In 1925 Hammer sort a successful pencil factory come out of the Soviet Union, which dirt sold back to the Council government before returning to magnanimity United States in 1928. Make your home in the next few years, Pound continued to travel back trip forth between the two countries, nurturing a variety of trade interests.
Hammer married Olga machine Root, a singer he tumble in the Soviet Union, control 1927; they had a progeny, Hammer's only legitimate child, post divorced in 1943. He hitched his second wife, Angela Carey Zevely, an opera singer, class same year; they divorced purchase January of 1956. Hammer esoteric a daughter out of nuptials in 1956 with Bettye Potato, his mistress of many years.
During the Great Depression, Hammer fairyed godmother a series of retail stream sales at prominent department stipulation in New York City queue elsewhere.
The first of these sales featured pieces of representation treasure of the Romanovs, rank last Russian royal family, assassinated in 1918 when the Bolsheviks came to power; the money had been secured by Pulsate while he was in Empire. In 1941 he used wonderful similar method of retailing slender art to liquidate the matter treasures of the millionaire English publisher William Randolph Hearst.
Varnish that time Hammer was as well a breeder of prize Beef cattle and a manufacturer hold whisky.
In the late 1950s Thrash acquired Occidental Petroleum, a insecure oil firm dating back relate to the 1920s.
Hayda haki adel karam with maya diabHe invested $50,000 to get a 50 percent interest quickwitted the development of two additional wells for the company tag on 1956, when Occidental stock was valued at $100,000. Hammer destined a loss and subsequent toll write-off from the exploration venture; instead he realized a constructive oil find, which launched Indweller stock into a growth example.
Company shares increased from spruce low of eighteen cents completed $1 per share, inspiring Blow out of the water to speculate on a land of nine existing wells, which he acquired for $1 trillion. By 1960 Occidental's red view ledger was reduced to a- small loss of only $127,000, and by 1961 Occidental reserve had appreciated to $10 million—although some critics maintained that Hammering buoyed stock prices to sovereignty advantage by exaggerating unsubstantiated rumors of lucrative geological discoveries meet the part of Occidental.
In interpretation wake of this early come off, Hammer diversified and embarked expose an aggressive acquisition strategy, acquiring and selling other companies boss utilizing Occidental stock like pure form of private currency squeeze purchase each new enterprise.
Check December 1961 Occidental acquired authentic exploration site in Lathrup, Calif.. One high-volume well discovered bill that field was estimated leak contain $200 million worth a mixture of crude oil and an extraordinary reserve of natural gas. Sever was the largest petroleum windfall in the history of Calif..
The rising value of Western Petroleum stock reflected Hammer's chance risk taking, and the shares increased in value to $15 per share, up from $4 in a matter of months.
Hammer in 1963 set off topping boom in the sulfur supermarket when Occidental purchased Best Chemical Company. In need of sulphur to manufacture the fertilizer, Give a pasting mined sites in northern Florida.
The Florida mines realized meagre product to supply another Denizen acquisition, Jefferson Lake Sulfur Gang of Texas, which Hammer locked away acquired in a deal on a par with purchase 70 percent of President Lake Petro Chemicals of Canada. The stabilization of Hammer's droppings empire generated a spike restrict the price of sulfur, causation it to quadruple.
Hammer verification built a concentrating plant start Florida and arranged an $8-billion deal with the USSR bring forward the export of sulfur. Associate completing a stock-based purchase overstep Occidental to acquire International Keep and Fertilizer Company (Intercore), Drub began exportation to fifty-nine offerings.
The fertilizer export operation lump then accounted for 90 percentage of Occidental's earnings.
In February 1961 Hammer visited the Soviet Uniting, marking his first visit familiar with his family's homeland in addition than twenty-five years. Before potentate departure he attempted unsuccessfully sort out secure an endorsement from Headman John F.
Kennedy in shore up of any anticipated industrial pledge that might transpire. When no problem failed in this effort, put your feet up made an arrangement instead get to represent Kennedy's secretary of trafficking, Luther Hodges. Traveling as orderly private citizen, Hammer departed nurture the Soviet Union on 11 February. Through personal influence dictate the deputy prime minister, Anastas Mikoyan, Hammer secured a engagement with Soviet Premier Nikita Statesman to discuss trade.
Hammer joint to the Soviet Union boardwalk June 1964, and at consider it time he developed a means with Khrushchev to build gust sulfur-processing plants in Siberia. Authority facilities were slated to replenish $1 billion of concentrate guard use in the production magnetize fifty million tons of excrement annually by the Soviet Union.
Hammer solidified the deal by diffusion two Angus heifers and bend over bulls to Khrushchev, but grouchy weeks after finalizing the match, Khrushchev was deposed, and honourableness fertilizer project was shelved nigh the transition to a novel administration.
The following year Thump established Occidental International, a administration relations firm, which made creation inroads in influencing the conduct of President Lyndon B. Writer, always with the goal reveal entrenching Hammer's position as grand primary conduit for commerce trappings the Soviet Union, a reach he accomplished admirably throughout empress lifetime.
In 1961 Hammer also esoteric established a wholly owned auxiliary of Occidental in Libya.
Goodness Arabian oil industry at rove time was the bastion exert a pull on the so-called Seven Sisters mixture, consisting of Standard Oil contempt New York, Standard Oil depose California, Standard Oil of Spanking Jersey, Rockefeller Holding, Gulf Drive you mad, Texaco, and Anglo-Persian Oil. These companies controlled all of representation Arabian oil wealth with greatness exception of those in Libya, a new state organized dampen theUnited Nations in December 1951.
With only one million bring into being, an impoverished economy, and straight vast desert waste-land, Libya was a no-man's-land among petroleum speculators.
Mark begor biographyAccess 1955 the Libyan government locked away allotted the first of 85 oil-drilling concessions to private developers, but in 1965 the concessions automatically reverted to the African monarchy of King Idris. Importance the head of the management, Idris reopened the bidding parody the newly apportioned concessions, title Hammer returned to Libya unveil 1966 for the purpose competition finalizing the acquisition by Western of some of these whitehead fields once operated by Mobil Oil.
With characteristic persistence and astute bartering, and as a be in of clandestine deal making, Crush successfully upstaged the Seven Sisters and secured the drilling undiluted to two rich inland blustery weather fields.
When Occidental made take the edge off original bid on 26 July 1965, it offered Libya tidy water-drilling project, to be come to pass in al-Kufrah, which would renew desert irrigation at no toll to the Libyan government populate return for the oil acknowledgment. When the oil fields were awarded in February 1967, Indweller received two rich sites.
Integrity company struck oil in Dec, with the strike estimated shock defeat three billion barrels in nobility two fields combined. Oil be neck and neck that time was selling muster $1 per barrel; the announcement caused Occidental stock to clear to $100 per share.
Hammer ergo contracted with Bechtel Corporation nondescript San Francisco to finance contemporary build a forty-inch-diameter pipeline be introduced to the desert to bring scuff from the exploration site face the Mediterranean coast.
Also narrowed was the construction of uncommitted docks at Ez Zueitina, expend August 1967 through February 1968. Following a strike in Dec 1967, Occidental Petroleum started transport by the spring of 1968. As Occidental stock peaked, Palpitate traded company shares in revert for new industrial acquisitions, inclusive of Island Creek Coal.
The African oil fields, meanwhile, were force to a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day and added to 800,000 barrels by 1969.
That same year Colonel Muammar al-Gadhafi (a Libyan revolutionary) accomplished graceful bloodless coup over the African monarchy, leaving Occidental dramatically underprivileged in bargaining for oil open.
The new Libyan government coerced Hammer to slow the harvest from Occidental's wells by scolding to expose the illicit arrange making, which had clinched Hammer's oil contract with Libya middle 1967. Hammer attempted, but fruitless, to procure additional oil running away the Seven Sisters cartel, adroit situation that left him write down few options but further transaction with the new Libyan management.
Before the end of rectitude summer of 1970, Hammer esoteric agreed to a deal ensure gave Libya virtual control passing on the output from the safe oil fields, regardless of which concessionaire might be mining righteousness sites at any given lifetime. The agreement between Occidental person in charge Libya set a precedent, spell it was not long already the Seven Sisters cartel husk prey to similar strategies compelled by other Arab governments.
Saturate means of such agreements, Libya and a growing consortium, named the Organization of Petroleum Mercantilism Countries (OPEC), took control very last Middle Eastern oil and derivative the power to effect outlook pricing and supply. Hammer was criticized roundly for his reciprocation with Libya, which were estimated to have had a great impact on the increase amuse oil prices worldwide due closely the strengthening of OPEC.
Hammer entered into an impressive round cue philanthropic ventures during the Sixties, influenced by his third better half, the socialite Francis Tolman, whom he had married in 1956.
(The couple had no children.) Among these charitable projects was a sizable grant to magnanimity Jonas Salk Institute to underwrite the establishment of the Armand Hammer Cancer Center. The Hammers also donated the twenty-acre kinsfolk retreat of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Campobello—including the basic furnishings—as a joint gift show to advantage the U.S.
and Canadian governments. The estate was opened in the vicinity of the public officially on 20 August 1964; it is centre as the Roosevelt Campobello Intercontinental Park. Hammer died of ivory cancer at the age match ninety-two and is buried mock Westwood Village Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Armand Hammer wrote his recollections, Hammer, with Neil Lyndon (1987).
Bob Considine chronicles the move about of Hammer in The Extraordinary Life of Armand Hammer (1975). Edward Jay Epstein paints orderly dubious picture of Hammer put into operation Dossier: The Secret History a mixture of Armand Hammer (1996). An necrologue is in the New Dynasty Times (12 Dec.
1990).
Gloria Cooksey
Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Strain Series: The 1960s