Hollywood's central casting would never think of Jim Ketelsen as a flamboyant Texas oil baron. He is a well-fed, Iowa-bred C.P.A. in a vested gray suit, and his soft accents echo the prairies more than the Panhandle ("If I don't git it now, I'll forgit it"). He went to work for J.I. Case, turned that sputtering farm-machinery firm into a winner and last year was made chairman of its conglomerate parent, Houston's Tenneco, Inc., which pumps revenues of $8.8 billion a year from oil, gas, chemicals and many other interests. At 48, Ketelsen is the youngest chief of...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
