Word: mecom
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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When Oilman John Mecom bought the Houston Chronicle six months ago in a package deal that included other, more valuable properties, his friends revived the old joke that his wife had simply asked him to pick up a paper on the way home. Mecom has that kind of reputation. Right up with H. L. Hunt and J. Paul Getty among Texas' biggest independent oil producers, Mecom has added to his rich oil empire by picking up fish-meal plants, a drugstore, ranches, and other assorted enterprises from here and there. He had never tried a paper before, and last...
...indication was the abrupt disappearance of his name from the Chronicle masthead, where he has been listed as president and publisher since January. Though all the principals involved immediately issued a torrent of stony silence-neither the Chronicle nor even the rival Post covered the story-the facts behind Mecom's canceled purchase murkily began to emerge...
...sports-minded population, explains why the N.F.L.'s Commissioner Rozelle is so anxious to beat the upstart A.F.L. into Georgia. The stronger N.F.L. has already lined up equally prestigious backers to support a franchise. Among the members of a syndicate dickering for a team: Texas Oilman John Mecom Jr., Indianapolis Speedway Owner Tony Hulman, Coca-Cola Heir Lindsey Hopkins Jr. So far, Atlanta's Stadium Authority has been playing it cozy, says only that no decision on rental rights will be made until July...
...University of Oklahoma graduate who studied geology and petroleum engineering, Mecom keeps twelve geologists and three geophysicists at work in his search, makes all the final decisions himself. He maintains a fleet of 27 airplanes and a private navy that includes a converted LST, three oceangoing tugs and a 5,000-ton freighter named Little John. Mecom lives with his wife and two daughters (he also has a married son) in a Frenchlike chateau in Houston, owns three cattle ranches and a private zoo of lions, zebras, gazelles and camels. A man who hardly hesitates before he plows $120 million...
Hedged Bets. In spite of his spectacular spending and steady success in the oilfields, Mecom is conservative enough to hedge his bets with other investments. He bought half of the new San Francisco Hilton for $14.5 million, has spent another $10.4 million on the Warwick Hotel in Houston, owns the 425-room Gran Hotel Bolivar in Lima, Peru. He also controls a New Jersey company that turns out the fast-selling Boonton plastic tableware. Another holding: Houston's Reed Roller Bit Co., which Mecom hopes eventually to make into an oil-equipment supply company rivaling the Hughes Tool...