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For Insull several different problems combined with the stock-market crash of 1929 to destroy his fortune and fame. The first was a series of scandals in the utilities business that badly tarnished the reputation of power generation. In 1927 and 1928 congressional committees revealed widespread influence peddling by utilities companies in the Pennsylvania and Illinois elections of 1926. Public sympathy for the utilities business was further undermined by disputes over the proposed Boulder Dam and the federally owned Muscle Shoals plant in Alabama. Politicians hostile to the utilities began speaking of a "power trust," rhetoric bound to impact a monopolist such as Insull. What really destroyed Insull, however, was an attempt to protect Commonwealth Edison from a stock buyout by Cyrus S. Eaton, a Cleveland financial raider. To protect his shares Insull formed the Insull Utility Investments Company and Corporation Securities Company of Chicago, pyramiding his utilities holdings and investment holdings...
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This section contains 319 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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