Word: sindona
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Dates: during 1964-1964
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Last week Sindona met with representatives of the U.S. General Foods Corp. to make plans for a joint venture in Sicily, did his homework for a similar planning session this week with Britain's Hambros Bank, and between times grabbed a telephone in his art-adorned office to hold Italian, French or limping English conversations with aides and agents on either side of the Atlantic. He has been on the telephone a lot lately. Last year he made news by swimming against the flood of U.S. acquisitions in Europe to buy, with two partners, a 20% controlling interest...
Reversing Trends. Sindona's penchant for joint ventures and foreign partners is the key to his good financial health. After he moved north from Sicily in 1947, he worked as a tax lawyer and accountant for such companies as Societa Generale Immobiliare and Snia Viscosa. In the process he noticed a simple but significant economic fact: while some countries were undergoing slumps, others were almost inevitably in a boom. Sindona reasoned that he could beat the economic cycle by founding firms in various countries, thus covering possible losses with almost certain profits elsewhere...
Organizing a Liechtenstein holding company called Fasco, A. G., Sindona used profits he had made in real estate to buy a small Italian construction company. He hired American technicians to run the firm, won contracts across Europe and the Middle East. Eventually he sold 60% of the company to Belgians and moved on to new ventures in Britain, France, Switzerland...
...Sindona, a soft-spoken executive who relaxes by reading Tolstoy and collects Renaissance art, runs such distant acquisitions through aides who have sweeping authority. He insists that his companies increase overseas activities to spread their own risk, points proudly to the fact that by so doing, Libby last year raised sales 5% to $289 million and tripled earnings...
Contact Man. Sindona is now president of seven companies, vice president of three and a director of twelve others. Along with protecting him against the winds of misfortune at home, his international complex has another purpose. Sindona is a dedicated free trader, believes businessmen can achieve tariff reductions faster than diplomats. "When enough European companies have interests in the U.S. and enough American companies have interests in firms in Europe," he says, "nobody will want to keep trade barriers up." To speed their fall, Sindona volunteers his services as a contact man and consultant without fee whenever he notices Italian...