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Chemical Reaction. Last February Steinberg stalked bigger game: Manhattan's Chemical Bank, whose assets of $9 billion make it the sixth biggest bank in the U.S. When word got around that Saul was trying to do a David, the reaction of many financiers was chemical. The Waspish commercial banking Establishment did not want a Manhattan bank to be taken over by a young upstart, especially one with a name like Steinberg. Bank trust departments dumped Leasco shares, pushing the price down by one-third, and Steinberg was forced to retreat. Noting the eagerness with which major banks, through one-bank holding companies, have been seeking to enter Leasco's field of leasing and data operations, Steinberg still believes that there is a natural link between Leasco and banking. But he now says, "I would never want to get so heavily involved with someone who was not enthusiastic."
Leasco is no longer a one-man band. Steinberg has brought in talent at the top, including a new president, Frank McCracken, 50, who was lured away from a 23-year career at IBM. He has also hired Thomas C. Sorensen (brother of Ted) to modulate Leasco's publicity into a lower, less personal key. That may take some doing. Steinberg has been regarded as almost wholly responsible for the ups and downs of a company whose stock, despite a clobbering this year, has multiplied 17 times over since Leasco went public in 1965.