Singleton Gives Up His Chief Executive Title at Teledyne

Teledyne Chairman Henry E. Singleton, who founded the Los Angeles-based conglomerate in 1960, said Wednesday that he will hand off his other title of chief executive to Teledyne President George A. Roberts.

The move represents the first step toward Singleton’s eventual retirement as Teledyne chairman and the succession of new management, said Robert Hanisee, an analyst at Seidler Amdec Securities, Los Angeles.

Singleton is 69, and most of the firm’s officers are over 65, Hanisee said. Until Wednesday, however, the secretive Singleton had given no indication that he was ready to initiate an eventual transfer of power.

Singleton told Teledyne shareholders at the firm’s annual meeting Wednesday that the realignment will not mark any major change in the style of Teledyne management. The new title for Roberts, Singleton said, is a recognition of Roberts’ contributions as Teledyne president during the last 20 years. Roberts came to Teledyne in 1966, when it acquired Vasco Metals Corp., which he headed.

Teledyne now owns a variety of specialty metals firms, defense electronics contractors, insurance companies and a jet engine manufacturer. Hanisee said Roberts has taken the lead role in operating Teledyne’s many far-flung manufacturing firms in recent years, while Singleton’s energies have gone into elaborate financial dealings that have gained him and the company renown on Wall Street.

“I don’t think any management changes will occur for the next 12 months, but then there will be another change and the next year another change,” Hanisee said. “It will be a minimum of three years and as many as five years before this unwinds.”

Hanisee said he expects that the realignment will face a negative reception from investors. “Teledyne is a mystic stock, and Singleton is a mystic guy,” he said.

Observers have long believed that Singleton singularly shaped and controlled Teledyne. But Singleton said Wednesday that he and Roberts had operated Teledyne in a “partnership” of consensus decision making, which he said won’t change.

Teledyne directors also elected Fayez Sarofim, a major Teledyne shareholder, to the board. Claude E. Shannon stepped down from the board.