Word: edelman
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...cell") where his creator labors as a hireling of a movie tycoon more crass, smug and fascinatingly awful than any envisioned by Nathanael West. As the tycoon (Rene Auberjonois) lays down the law (no social criticism, no politics, no hint of kinky sex), the moneystruck young writer (Gregg Edelman) peevishly retypes his scenes -- and, in an inspired bit of playfulness, that action causes his characters to move and speak jerkily backward, as if a film were being rewound, until they are back in position to perform the new bowdlerized version...
...Even so, Edelman, 50, has plenty of reasons to hunch. Since 1986 he has launched hostile raids on ten large corporations and nine of the bids have failed, though Edelman has collected some greenmail for quitting the attacks. He managed to capture one of his prey, the Ponderosa restaurant chain, but resold it without a profit...
...When Edelman has tried to operate companies rather than simply auction off their parts, the results have been just as dismal. Example: Datapoint, a San / Antonio-based minicomputer maker. Since Edelman took it over in 1985, the company has gone through three presidents and $135 million in losses. Yet he has reaped millions of dollars in personal fees by aggressively playing the stock market with Datapoint's cash. Another Edelman-controlled firm, Intelogic Trace, a computer-servicing business that was spun off from Datapoint in 1985, has seen its annual profits plummet from $20 million in that year...
...Edelman got a taste of his own tactics last September, when Manhattan lawyer Martin Ackerman launched a proxy war for Datapoint. Edelman responded by entrenching himself more deeply. In a two-day blitz of stock buying, Edelman boosted his stake from 10% to 40%, largely by purchasing stock with cash from Intelogic Trace. Edelman won, but pride had its price: Datapoint shares have fallen an additional 25% in value...
...Because Edelman feels that U.S. attitudes toward raiders have become too hostile, he now prefers to stalk European game. Yet his magic touch is fading. In June, Edelman made a failed bid for Storehouse PLC, a British retailing giant. Since then Storehouse's profits and stock price have plunged, wiping out some 35% of the value of Edelman's stake...