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In partnership with Hertz, Clark has helped build Hertz American Express International into the biggest and most profitable car and truck rental unit outside the U.S. In 1963, American Express acquired full ownership of Wells Fargo, increased its fleet of armored trucks to more than 200, making it second only to Brinks in its field. To get even more business for its rapidly growing overseas bank divisions (49 branches in 16 countries), the company has launched a special Export Marketing Service to try to help U.S. businessmen find new markets abroad. During Clark's reign, the company has also become an international air-freight forwarder and bought a third of the stock of the Presidential Insurance Co., which does a $100 million business in 40 states.
Priceless Caviar. American Express' greatest effort is still devoted to tourism, which makes no money by itself but generates much of the profit of other divisions. Says Clark: "We're on the lookout for new business, but tourism is the glue that holds our company together." The lion's share of American Express' earnings, for example, comes from interest and dividends earned by the traveler's check "float"—the money paid into American Express for checks not yet cashed, which at the end of 1964 totaled $525.7 million. To woo the 58% of U.S. tourists who make less than $15,000 a year, American Express is concentrating on economy tourist plans with such fanciful names as "European Romance" and "Priceless Caviar" (to denote Eastern European stops), which cost between $746 and $1,395. The tourist's favorite is the "Priceless Three Week Whirl," which for as little as $695 whisks him through eleven countries in only 22 days.
That may seem quite a pace to many travelers who like to be able to focus their minds as well as their cameras, but it is no greater a pace than Howard Clark expects of himself. Later this month, he will leave on a trip that will take him to eight countries in 16 days.