Word: walston
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Last week, confirming widespread rumors that he planned drastic changes in his expanded Wall Street empire (TIME, Jan. 28), Perot set about closing down duPont Walston, the nation's second largest brokerage house (after Merrill Lynch). The firm was the old Walston & Co. (renamed duPont Walston Inc.), an ailing brokerage that Perot had partially consolidated with duPont, Glore Forgan last July. Whatever the mistakes of the Texas millionaire in his 32-month binge in the securities industry, at least he still knew how to prevent panic. Walston's 143 offices remained temporarily open for business...
Following Perot's partial merger of the firms, Walston was given the retail stock-trading operation, while duPont Glore Forgan Inc. handled customer accounts, stock clearing and other record-keeping duties with data-processing techniques that Perot brought with him from Texas. To put the two firms back on their feet, he has poured in some $100 million from his own considerable fortune...
...advent of negotiated commission rates for large transactions in 1971 has cut into the profits of many firms. New York Stock Exchange member firms collectively lost some $80 million last year after turning a profit of more than $787 million in 1972. Among the biggest losers was Walston, which reportedly dropped $22.9 million between July and November, the first five months of Perot's stewardship. Meanwhile, duPont Glore Forgan has lost an estimated total of $33.2 million since Perot took control...
Because duPont Glore Forgan's only data-processing customer is Walston, Perot's original Wall Street possession will probably soon be dissolved as well. Walston is trying to find other brokerage firms to assume the leases on its branch offices and its more than $350,000-a-month Lower Manhattan headquarters. So far, it has come up with takers for at least 71 offices. Many of Walston's 4,000 employees will probably be retained by the new managements; customers, if they wish to, can pick up their holdings at Walston and follow their old broker...
Though the announcement of Walston's demise was not a major catastrophe for the securities industry, it may serve to deepen investor mistrust of the stock market and make it harder for other brokerages to sell the industry's future to bright young recruits. Moreover, some securities men fear that a Walston disappearance may be merely the first in a new series of big shutdowns. "The combination of the duPont situation and the bad market has given everybody the jitters," says Richard Jenrette, chairman of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. "There will probably be more firms...