George Newell Armsby (August 10, 1876 – October 25, 1942) was an American entrepreneur, most noted for his drive toward corporate mergers in the first half of the 20th century: first the merger of California food companies that resulted in
California Packing Corporation
George Newell Armsby (August 10, 1876 – October 25, 1942) was an American entrepreneur, most noted for his drive toward corporate mergers in the first half of the 20th century: first the merger of California food companies that resulted in Calif ...
, which sold under the
Del Monte and
Sunkist labels.
Armsby was on the board of numerous corporations, including
Curtiss-Wright (where he served as Chairman),
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
, Bancamerica-Blair, and many others. He was associated throughout his business life with
John Cheever Cowdin
John Cheever Cowdin (March 17, 1889 – September 16, 1960) was an American financier and polo champion who was a head of Universal Pictures, Standard Capital Corporation of New York City, and was chairman of Ideal Chemicals.
Biography
Kno ...
, with whom he ran Universal Pictures; they were also both involved in the formation of
Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc., which was later a foundation of
TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...
.
Early life
Armsby was born in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
, on August 10, 1876, a son of food-packing entrepreneur
James K. Armsby. His younger sister was golfer
Cornelia Wicker Armsby
Cornelia Wicker Armsby (1884 – April 23, 1969) was an American golfer and socialite, who lived much of her adult life in Europe.
Early life
Cornelia Wicker Armsby was from Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of James Kendall Armsby and Cornelia An ...
. He went to work for his father's concern,
J.K. Armsby Co., and on December 28, 1898, he married
Leonora Wood, daughter of Colorado mining entrepreneur
Tingley Sylvanus Wood.
California Packing Corporation
In the mid-1910s he conceived a plan to unite California's food-packing companies under a single association, and he went to New York to secure the $16,000,000 in financing necessary to do it. Blair & Co. and
William Salomon & Co. lent him the funds, and
California Packing Corporation
George Newell Armsby (August 10, 1876 – October 25, 1942) was an American entrepreneur, most noted for his drive toward corporate mergers in the first half of the 20th century: first the merger of California food companies that resulted in Calif ...
was founded.
Blair-Salomon
After serving on the Priorities Commission of the
War Industries Board
The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Because ...
, her persuaded his two lenders on the CalPack deal to merge and he went to work for the new concern, Blair & Co., Inc. In time, the new enterprise was bought by
Transamerica, and Armsby found himself working under his friend and fellow fruit-grower
Amadeo Giannini. In time, this link would prove crucial to Armsby's next venture.
Bank of America-Blair
After playing a role in the construction of
40 Wall Street
40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau and William streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Erected in 1929–1930 as the headquarters of the Manhat ...
, for a time the world's tallest building and now The Trump Building, Armsby and Cowdin persuaded
A. P. Giannini
Amadeo Pietro Giannini (), also known as Amadeo Peter Giannini or A. P. Giannini (May 6, 1870 – June 3, 1949) was an American banker who founded the Bank of Italy, which became Bank of America. Giannini is credited as the inventor of many modern ...
s
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
to merge with Blair, which became - in 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression - a major force on Wall Street.
McKesson & Robbins
In January 1940, Armsby headed the committee representing the $3 cumulative preference stock class of
McKesson & Robbins, Inc., asking views on the development of a reorganization plan.
Personal life
As his business ventures soared, Armsby's personal life was no less colorful. His marriage to Leonora disintegrated, and in March 1929 she sued for and was granted a divorce in the San Francisco courts, alleging (as was common at the time with unhappy spouses) that Armsby had abandoned her in New York in 1924. The subsequent divorce settlement of $1,000,000 made the papers as far away as
Helena, Montana
Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.
Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...
. Notably, Leonora retained the Armsby name until her death in 1962.
Armsby's personal life made the papers next year when, in March 1930, he announced that he was marrying, at age 54, a 36-year-old woman, Colette Touzeau, whom ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and other papers tartly (if apparently accurately) called an ex-
showgirl. They did marry that month, in Los Angeles, and remained together until Armsby's death twelve years later.
Later years
Armsby's business life showed no sign of slowdown as he went into the 1940s. He remained involved with Curtiss-Wright and Universal Pictures, in fact was a defendant in an
anti-trust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
case against the movie industry in the late 1930s.
He died in Manhattan's
Mount Sinai Hospital on October 25, 1942, aged 66.
References
Sources
*"Matron of Society Sheds Her Hubby". ''
The Helena Independent'', March 3, 1929.
*"Armsby Weds Wednesday". ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 23, 1930, page N7.
*
*
*Obituary, ''The New York Times'', September 26, 1942.
*Obituary, ''The New York Times'', September 27, 1942.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armsby, George Newell
American food industry business executives
Businesspeople from Evanston, Illinois
1876 births
1942 deaths