He Has Facts Nailed Down

Steve Weinberg, author of “Armand Hammer: The Untold Story,” says he tries not to think about the defamation suit that the Occidental Petroleum chairman filed against him in London. “It ruins my day,” Weinberg said at a recent journalism seminar in St. Louis.

However, Weinberg, who is executive director of Investigative Reporters & Editors, didn’t seem worried about defending his work. He asserts that Hammer, who had lawyers and other representatives working overtime in an attempt to keep the book from being published, filed suit in England because of the country’s less permissive libel law.

“I have thousands of pages of documents. I have his income tax returns for several years. I have his high school report card from 1916. I have records of all the pieces of property he owns. I have his congressional testimony from the 1930s. I have details of 50 lawsuits (involving Hammer and his businesses) and information from another 250 minor lawsuits. I have the complete file of his two divorces,” Weinberg said.

New Firm, Old Symbol

The new logo for Time Warner Inc. may look made for the 1990s, but it also contains hints of symbols dating back thousands of years. As is its corporate creator, the new logo is the result of a merger. A stylized eye and ear have been used to represent, as the company describes it, the appeal of Time Warner’s products to those senses.

But it doesn’t take a mythology expert to see similarities in the new logo to the symbols of earlier times. The sign of Horus, the ancient Egyptian falcon-headed god, also used a stylized eye with a spiral.

“There was no attempt to connect with something ancient,” said Steff Geissbuhler, partner in the New York design firm Chermayeff & Geismar, which created the new logo. “But every time you use an icon such as an eye or ear you echo ancient themes.” And, in a way, Horus was in the communications business too. Four thousand years ago, the eyes of Horus were sometimes painted on the outside of coffins in the belief that they would help the dead to see in the afterlife.

Hidden Value in Stock

The way one analyst sees it, Safeway Inc.’s 35% stake in El Monte-based Vons Cos. boosted by a hefty amount what investors were willing to pay for Safeway shares in the Oakland company’s initial public offering last week.

Here’s how Suzanne McGrath of the Black & Co. investment firm in Portland, Ore., figures it: Safeway owns about 13.6 million shares of Vons, which is trading at about $23 a share. That yields a stake in Vons of nearly $313 million.

On a fully diluted basis--taking into account management stock options and the exercise of warrants--Safeway would have about 100 million common shares. The Vons holding, therefore, contributed $3.13 to the value of each Safeway share, so that investors who subscribed to the offering at $11.25 really paid only $8.125 for Safeway.

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