Business & Finance: Fisher Brothers

Twenty years ago the Fisher brothers organized their motor car body business as a Michigan corporation. It prospered collaterally with the motor industry. Two years ago Fisher Body’s net tangible assets were practically $90,000,000. General Motors, their chief customer, had by that time acquired three-fifths of their stock; the Fisher brothers owned most of the rest. Finally they traded all their holdings to General Motors for General Motors stock.

Now Charles T. Fisher is a G. M. vice president and director; so too, Fred J. Fisher. Lawrence P. Fisher is a director and president of the G. M.’s Cadillac division, William A. a director and president of the Fisher Body division. The $36,000,000 G. M. stock that they received for their business has increased manyfold from G. M. extra dividends and stock split-ups and stock market offers.

What to do with their wealth? Fred J. Fisher apparently took the lead. He went into the stock market. On a large scale, he bought shares of various corporations. Financial writers began calling him a speculator. They linked him with Arthur W. Cutten of Chicago, an out-&-out, but secretive market operator. They compared him with William Crapo Durant, ousted founder of General Motors and now one of the shrewdest, hardest hitting operators in Wall Street.

But Fred J. Fisher, canny, was buying his stock with keen purpose. Revelation came last year when hard-bitten President Samuel M. Vauclain of Baldwin Locomotive roared that he would let no “outsider” on to Baldwin Locomotive’s board of directors. Fred J. Fisher (and Arthur W. Cutten) made little rebuttal. But at the next Baldwin Locomotive board meeting Fred J. Fisher was truculently made a director (also Mr. Cutten). He controlled sufficient stock (as did Mr. Cutten) to force his election as director.

Someone has been buying heavily into Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing stock. That someone seems to be Fred J. Fisher. But not yet has he done anything overt towards entry into the corporation’s directorate.

But he did not wait long to make felt the influence of his recent investments in New York Central. For last week the New York Central directors who control N. Y. C.’s most important subsidiary, the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway), elected Fred J. Fisher a Big Four director. It was freely predicted he would become a N. Y. C. director next month.