Pay Yourself Through Your Own Companies

“factor. Most of National Bulk’s liabilities were owed to Welding Shipyard. Thus, the figures on the debit side of National Bulk’s ledger were really assets for Daniel Ludwig, who paid himself to build the tankers he operated. And since American Petroleum Transport brought in a good steady income by operating a fleet of government-owned tankers, he got additional revenue from U.S. taxpayers. Exactly how much money he made from Welding Ship¬ yard will probably never be known; with no government inspectors at Sewalls Point to oversee construction, D.K. may have indulged in one of his chief moneymaking talents — scrounging up cheap”

“But his shipyard at Norfolk was becoming too cramped for the large ships Ludwig planned to build. In 1951 he was able to make a deal with the occupation government in Japan to lease the former Imperial Navy Shipyard at Kure, where many of the largest war vessels had been built, and move most of his shipbuilding operation there. There were plenty of workers eager for jobs at any wage. While he built tankers, he was also experimenting with other kinds of vessels, mainly self-unloading vessels for hauling dry cargo — iron ore, coal, and other minerals — or versatile bulk carriers able to haul either ore or petroleum. To help provide cargo for his ships, he diversified into other activities — mining, ranching, timber grow¬ ing, oil refining, salt production — and became a major supplier of many commodities to Japan, producing as well as hauling raw materials from South America, Australia, and other areas where he had established projects.”