After a brief pause to regroup following last month's victory in the proxy fight for control of the many-sided Alleghany Corp.. the Murchison brothers of Texas—John, 39. and Clint Jr., 37—swung into action last week.
Predictably, the Murchisons (TIME cover, June 16) sought to rid the Alleghany empire of any influence of their defeated rival. Alleghany ex-Chairman Allan P. Kirby. First they went to work on the biggest Alleghany-controlled company, Investors Diversified Services, the nation's largest mutual-fund complex with assets of $3.4 billion. It was Kirby's ouster of the Murchisons from the I.D.S. board last year that prompted the brothers to try to take over Alleghany. Now it was the Murchisons' turn.
Off the I.D.S. board last week went Kirby's two sons, Allan Jr. and Fred, as well as ex-Alleghany President Charles T. Ireland. Into their places went trusted Murchison allies, including the brothers' troubleshooter, Stephen Rooth, and Edgar T. Rigg, chairman of the Manhattan book-publishing firm of Holt, Rinehart & Winston, a Murchison-controlled enterprise. As president and chief executive officer, the Murchisons retained Grady Clark, 63, whom they had originally tapped for the executive ranks of I.D.S. But Clint Jr. moved in as chairman to keep a high-level eye on the company.
Two days later the Murchisons tightened their grip on the second largest Alleghany holding, the New York Central Railroad. Barred by Central bylaws from unseating Kirby and his five supporting directors without stockholder approval, the Murchisons expanded the board to include Indianapolis Banker Frank E. McKinney, who headed the pro-Murchison stockholder committee in the Alleghany fight, and John Murchison, who is running Alleghany as president and chief executive officer. Explained Brother John: "We did what was adequate for the moment without making a big fuss—and we just got through with one big fuss."