23¢ on the Dollar
Two months ago San Francisco’s Golden GateInternational Exposition suddenly closed, 34 days ahead of schedule.Although in midseason Fair officials had given out that the Fair’s netliabilities were only $2,650,000 and were rapidly being reduced, byclosing date its net liabilities had increased to$3,263,500—$4,265,362 total liabilities and $1,001,862 assets, ofwhich $400,399 was accounts receivable.
Before a referee in bankruptcy in San Francisco’s Federal Court,fortnight ago, appeared all of the Fair’s major creditors.Biggest of these were six banks, Standard Oil Co. of California, andPacific Gas & Electric Co., with unpaid loans totaling $2,677,310. Nextwas a group of contractors and other unsecured creditors, to whom theFair owed $1,464,913. Decision of about 65% of the creditors (includingthe banks, P. G. & E., Standard Oil) was to take their licking, splitup some $650,000 coming to them (about 23¢ on the dollar), and have nomore to do with the Fair.
The rest of the creditors were willing to gamble on getting back more ifthe Fair ran another year, and offered to turn over their $350,000share of the assets to 1940 Exposition, Inc., a new corporation formedchiefly by hotelmen and restaurateurs who had made money by the Fair.Other assets of 1940 Exposition, Inc.: $125,000 of new donations,$1,000,000 from pledged hotelmen, $250,000 more from San Francisco,city & county. Because the Fair’s new managers think that they cancarry the exposition over the winter and rehabilitate it in the springwith $1,600,000, and their expected assets in cash and accountsreceivable tote up to $1,725,000, they last week announced that theFair will try again in 1940.