David N. Judelson papers on Gulf and Western Industries
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The collection includes records of David N. (Jim) Judelson compiled during his tenure in senior leadership positions at Gulf and Western Industries from the late 1950s to his resignation in 1983. Records include Gulf + Western Board and shareholder meeting materials, financial reports, policy manuals, and other documents, primarily from the 1970s to 1983. Documents more specifically related to Judelson's company connections include his correspondence files, speeches and interviews, securities transaction records, and various subject matters, including the company's 1980 initiative to develop a zinc chloride battery to power electric vehicles.
Biographical / Historical
David N. (Jim) Judelson (1928-2018) was born in Hackensack, NJ. He graduated from New York University in 1949 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and worked as Chief Engineer and then in executive capacities for Judelson Industries in Randolph, NJ through the 1950s. In 1956, Judelson bought some shares of stock in a small auto parts company, the Michigan Bumper Company. Coincidentally, an Austrian-born entrepreneur, Charles Bluhdorn (1926-1983), bought what became a controlling amount of shares in the same company. In 1958, Bluhdorn asked John Duncan (1928-2020) and, shortly after, Judelson to join the company in order to expand the organization through acquisitions, with Judelson focused on manufacturing firms. After an initial acquisition of the Michigan Plating & Stamping Co., the conglomerate eventually took the name Gulf and Western Industries in the 1960s and grew spectacularly, even attracting the attention of a congressional antitrust investigation in 1969.
In 1968, after Duncan was promoted, Judelson became President and Chief Operating Officer of G+W, as well as a member of the Board and Executive Committee. Through the 1970s, the company continued its aggressive growth through mergers and acquisitions. Beginning in the mid-1960s, the company had also diversified beyond its manufacturing and extraction origins into new industries, notably entertainment with the acquisition of, for example, Paramount Pictures in 1966. Later, in 1977, Madison Square Garden and its sports teams were added. In 1980, G+W announced an initiative to manufacture an electric vehicle, powered by a zinc chloride battery, though that eventually faltered.
In 1979, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged G+W, Bluhdorn, and another senior executive with fraud. The matter was finally settled in 1981. In 1983, Bluhdorn died suddenly of a heart attack. Perceiving that he did not have sufficient support from the Board for the position, Judelson did not put his name forward as a candidate for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position, despite being considered by some to be the "heir apparent" to Bluhdorn. The position went instead to Martin S. Davis, who had come through the ranks from Paramount Pictures and had held various senior administrative positions at G+W. (The Board also passed over Judelson's contemporary, John Duncan, who was also still in a leadership role at G+W.) Judelson then resigned from G+W, moving on to other ventures. Judelson died in 2018. Martin Davis began divesting G+W of its broad array of industries, focusing on entertainment and eventually dropping the Gulf and Western name in favor of Paramount Communications. The company was bought by Viacom in 1994 and is now part of that conglomerate.
(The above note was based on various on-line sources, especially New York Times articles, obituaries, and Wikipedia, and Judelson's resignation statement in the collection.)
Arrangement
The overall arrangement is roughly by subject matter. With minor adjustment, the contents remain in the order they were held in storage by Judelson and later delivered to N-YHS. Original folder lists are found in certain of the boxes: in box 1 covering the contents of box 1 and 2; and in boxes 3-8 for the contents of each of those boxes.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes documents compiled by David N. (Jim) Judelson during his career at Gulf + Western, primarily from the 1960s until his resignation in early 1983. These records include those concerning Gulf + Western (G+W) operations generally and those concerning Judelson's personal connections with G+W.
Records related to company operations include Board of Director meeting materials (1974-83), shareholder meeting materials (1968-81), charts of organization structure (1982), a history of company acquisitions from 1957-80, and some financial data, annual reports, business plans, policy manuals, and other company information, mainly from the late 1970s-1982. Subject files maintained by Judelson touch on various topics, notably the company's initiative in 1980 to develop a zinc chloride battery as a suitable energy source for an electric vehicle. There are also topical files on the SEC investigation of G+W from 1977-81, the sale of Consolidated Cigar during the company's divestitures in 1982, and other matters.
Judelson's records include his correspondence files (1968-83); appointment books (1969-83); speeches and other statements by Judelson (1967-82); G+W's various executive compensation plans, including stock options, and Judelson's participation in the plans; and records of Judelson's personal securities transactions in G+W and other companies' stock. There are also several files concerning the close of Judelson's tenure at G+W in 1983, including his resignation letter, his lengthy statement to the Board surveying his G+W career, letters of support to Judelson, and more.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: David N. Judelson papers on Gulf and Western Industries, MS 3081, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of David N. Judelson, 2015.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The collection was processed by archivist Larry Weimer in October 2021. The collection was processed to only a minimal degree and remains in the original folders and, with minor exceptions to facilitate access, in the original order as stored by Judelson and as received at N-YHS in 2015.
Repository
View Inventory
Gulf + Western securities, compensation plans, etc. (box 1 of 2), 1960s-1982, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This box and the next holds files related to various G+W compensation plans that Judelson was a participant in, including executive compensation, deferred compensation, stock options & purchases, incentive compensation, and retirement plans. Related in part to these plans, the files also hold information about G+W stock and bond securities (e.g., tender offers, dividends, stock purchase offers, shareholder meeting announcements, earnings, proxies, securities prospectus, etc.). This first box also holds information about Judelson's participation in these plans and his related SEC disclosures. Also in this box are G+W Foundation financial statements for 1975-80.
Gulf + Western securities, compensation plans, etc. (box 2 of 2), 1960s-1982, inclusive
Scope and Contents
In addition to the overall content noted above, this box holds charts of G+W's corporate structure (1982) and profiles of the company's group presidents (1979).
Subject files (box 1 of 4). A-Ba, 1970s-1983, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This set of 4 boxes holds subject files organized alphabetically. They include a broad mix of business proposals, business transactions, and personal securities transactions. The files include some G+W financial information and some G+W group level information. Material on a given subject is not necessarily found together under one heading. For example, a significant topic found in these files relates to G+W's circa 1980 initiative to develop a battery for electric vehicles (EV). Much of the related documentation is found in this first box (under "Battery"), but also appears in other files under various supplier names and other headings.
Subject files (box 2 of 4). Be-D, 1970s-1983, inclusive
Subject files (box 3 of 4). E-S, 1970s-1983, inclusive
Subject files (box 4 of 4). S-Z, 1970s-1983, inclusive
Gulf + Western financial data, circa 1976-1983, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, among other material, cash return on investment (ROI), earnings projections, capital expenditures budget, and salary/compensation committee materials. Few, if any, of the reports/data are present for all years in the date range.
Gulf + Western business plans, financial data, etc., 1969-1983, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This box holds a variety of materials, primarily from the early 1980s. These include, among others, a history of G+W acquisitions from 1957-1980; transcripts of interviews with staff from U.S. Representative Emanuel Celler's Antitrust Subcommittee during its investigation of conglomerate corporations (1969); cash forecasts (1980-83); flash (financial) reports (1982-83); file regarding the sale of Consolidated Cigar (1982); business plan (1982); and various brochures and other documents concerning electric vehicles/energy storage systems (ESS).
Judelson speeches, remarks, interviews, 1967-1982, inclusive
Judelson business expenses, 1969-1983, inclusive
Judelson securities transactions, 1957-1968, inclusive
Correspondence binders (box 1 of 4), 1968-1973, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This set of boxes holds binders with carbon copies of Judelson's outgoing correspondence, with some related incoming, arranged chronologically. The correspondence is a mix of business and personal matters, and courtesies.
Correspondence binders (box 2 of 4), 1974-1977, inclusive
Correspondence binders (box 3 of 4), 1978-1980, inclusive
Correspondence binders (box 4 of 4), 1982-1983, inclusive
Gulf + Western Corporate Policy Manual, 1977, inclusive
Gulf + Western Employee Relations Update Manual, 1982, inclusive
Judelson appointment books, 1969-1983, inclusive
Scope and Contents
The box also holds a packet of Judelson's letterhead stationery.
Gulf + Western Board of Directors minutes, reports, agendas (box 1 of 2), 1974-1978, inclusive
Gulf + Western Board of Directors minutes, reports, agendas (box 2 of 2), 1979-1983, inclusive
Gulf + Western annual shareholder meeting files, 1968-1981, inclusive
SEC investigation files, 1977-1981, inclusive
Judelson resignation files, 1983, inclusive
Annual reports, 1959, 1968-1992, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Holds published "glossy" annual reports for G+W for 1959 (likely the first annual report under the G+W name), 1968-1982 (those issued while Judelson was president), 1988, and for Paramount (G+W's new name) for 1989-1992.