Word: mize
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Dates: during 1972-1972
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...burglary attempt, the cop stopped the man for questioning. The suspect protested: "But I'm Ernest Gallo." Replied the cop: "Yeah, and I'm Lyndon B. Johnson." In business transactions, Gallo's way is the only way-or no deal. Southdown Corp. Chairman D. Doyle Mize recently negotiated with Gallo about selling him some grapes. A few days later, Mize recalls, Gallo walked into his office and said, "Here's the contract. Here's a pen. Don't waste my time with any lawyers...
...poor Texas farmer, Mize dropped out of the University of Houston and went to work as a bench hand for an oil-exploration company. He moved up to become a salesman and then climbed through a succession of corporate jobs to become president of Mandrel Industries, an oilfield-equipment manufacturer. Naturally, he bought some stock in Mandrel and, when the company was sold in 1963, he had a bankroll...
Itching to be on his own, Mize used his money, plus bank loans, to buy a controlling interest in Zapata, a small, cash-rich oil-drilling firm. Since he thus became the controlling stockholder in Zapata, Mize named himself chairman and began using the company's cash and stock to acquire other companies...
Great Thirst. By 1969, Mize had grown tired of Zapata, figuring that it had reached a point at which profits could not be raised fast. His goal is to double after-tax profits each year, which he has often managed to do. For a more promising base of operations, he chose land-rich Southdown, a company that Zapata controlled. In a complicated series of transactions, Mize made Southdown an entirely separate company, severing all its ties with Zapata. He also resigned from Zapata and named himself chairman of Southdown. Again Mize went back to making acquisitions, mostly in exchange...
Southdown also owns 10,000 acres of vineyards in California's Salinas Valley. Mize recently signed an agreement to exchange 1,050 acres of land for California's San Martin winery. Mize believes that in the next five or ten years, demand for California wines will increase rapidly because the French will be unable to produce enough to satisfy America's growing thirst for good but moderately priced wine. The domestic market will soon be big enough to support another major national brand, he says, and a hustling entrepreneur could become a kingpin in American wines. That...