"The faster they rise, the harder they fall." During these days of monetary stringency, that new version of the ancient saying might well apply to many entrepreneurs who have pursued the goal of growth. Those who overreached have been caught short by the Administration's tight-money policies. Last week three empire builders lost in varying ways:
New Pilot at LTV
In the midst of financial crisis, top executives are often forced to walk the plank. Stuart T. Saunders was ousted as boss of Penn Central. Bernard Cornfeld was pushed out of his I.O.S. mutual-fund complex. The latest to go is James J. Ling, who built Ling-Temco-Vought into a conglomerate with sales last year of $3.75 billion.
Two months ago, bankers for the impecunious company demanded that Ling be dumped as chairman and chief executive. In a face-saving gesture, he was permitted to remain as president. Now, after unsuccessfully maneuvering to regain power, Ling has agreed to step down to vice chairman, and he admits "I am no longer to be an active participant in the management of the company." Ling still owns $6,000,000 worth of LTV stock, but all of it is pledged to banks against loans. His $2.5 million house, a smaller Versailles set in Dallas, is reportedly for sale.
Making Waves in Acapulco. Troy V. Post, the Dallas insurance millionaire and longtime patron of Ling's, also resigned as vice chairman and chairman of the executive committee in order to devote more time to his investments. Besides his LTV holdings. Post is worried about an Acapulco resort project, which Cornfeld's I.O.S. reportedly backed out of financing.
Robert H. Stewart III, who had pressed for Ling's removal in May and replaced him as chief executive, also quit. Stewart had plainly been an interim choice though it was not anticipated he would step down so soon. His departure was hastened when the board of the First National Bank in Dallas, of which he is chairman, became nervous that his association with troubled LTV could damage the bank. During his short tenure, Stewart managed to repay $35 million of LTV's $110 million short-term debt and renew all of its subsidiaries' lines of bank credit. To accomplish that, he had to assure LTV's bankers that Ling was no longer in control of the company. Last week the company made an $11 million interest payment on its 5% debentures. Part of the money was cash on hand, but part was generated by reclassifying a block of stock of LTV Aerospace, a subsidiary, into a dividend-paying issue and then declaring a dividend to the parent company.
Sick Subsidiary. The leadership of LTV has passed from financial entrepreneurs to a shirt-sleeved production man. Paul Thayer, 50, was named president, chairman and chief executive. A chain-smoking former chief test pilot for Chance Vought Corp. who came along when that company was acquired by Ling in 1961, Thayer helped design LTV's A-7A attack plane. He became president of LTV Aerospace in 1965. Under Thayer, sales climbed from $195 million to last year's $714 million; more important, profits increased from $3.6 million to $28.7 million. Zealously profit conscious, Thayer recently has been firing about 75 workers every two weeks as Government contracts expired.