Going Nowhere
There was more than a little self-interest in last week’s sale of 95-year-old John Burnham & Co., the 95-year-old privately held insurance and real estate firm.
Company Chairman and CEO Malin Burnham, who’s been planning to sell the firm to a group of his executives for some time, acknowledged that the elimination of the capital gains tax provision next year hastened the sale. Originally, the sale was to be completed in 1989.
But Burnham kept tradition in mind: A clause in the purchase agreement prohibits the company--founded in 1891 by his grandfather, John Burnham--from ever going public or from being sold to an entity outside San Diego.
No Fumar
El Indio, the 40-year-old Mexican food landmark on India Street, opens its first indoor dining room next week.
And manager Eva Sanchez figures she’ll keep up with contemporary restaurant trends. It’ll be strictly no smoking in the new dining room.
The smoking section, quips Sanchez, will be El Indio’s trademark outdoor patio.
In the News
Henley Corp. Chairman and CEO Michael Dingman has been the belle of the ball this holiday season.
Last week, the New York Times listed Dingman as one of four top corporate newsmakers in 1986. San Diego Magazine tapped Dingman as one of the 87 to watch in 1987. And Fortune magazine, in its Jan. 5, 1987 edition, described Dingman as one of the year’s 50 most fascinating business people.
In the Fortune piece, Dingman is pictured on the ski slopes of Aspen with wife Betsy during a trip some time ago. Last week, Dingman couldn’t be reached for comment on his recent rash of publicity.
Where was he? On the ski slopes of Aspen with wife Betsy.
The Mailbag . . .
Of the dozens of holiday greeting cards we’ve received this month (thanks to one and all), two of our favorites, judging by their uniqueness:
Attorney Pat Frega, one of the lawyers who sued law firms, accountants and anyone else even remotely tied to fraudulent J. David & Co., sent cards featuring a swashbuckling Santa, a patch over one eye, sword in one hand, shield in another and surrounded by barbed wire. The greeting--”Crusaders endure the holidays as the war on injustice rages.”
The other card worth noting is from political consultant Nick Johnson, whose missive shows pictures of Iran/Contra players Navy Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter and Lt. Col. Oliver L. North. The inside contains a 1936 quote from former New York Governor Al Smith: “No matter how thin you slice it, it’s still baloney.”
