Morgan

"Ivar took the long view. He believed matches were an important staple, like steel or sugar, and that match factories inevitably would be consolidated. He also foresaw that Britain’s abandoning of the gold standard would open up international finance to newcomers, and that the war would not clog shipping lanes as much as people supposed. He thought that if he could manage the match business as well as he had managed construction, he would be able to acquire a monopoly on production. Then, he could raise prices and earn enormous profits. Just as Rockefeller controlled oil and Morgan controlled banking, Kreuger envisioned controlling matches, and thereby joining an élite group of global monopolists."

"Morgan masterminded the consolidations that produced such industrial giants as American Tele¬ phone & Telegraph, General Electric, International Harvester, United States Steel Corporation, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and West¬ ern Union"

"Stokes was in the United States regularly, having set up an Australian Capital Equity branch in Texas, largely to oversee the campaign to lease or sell the Dallas skyscraper. On one trip he invited Caterpillar decision makers ‘to have a heart-to-heart’ in his splendid office in the refurbished tower, by now called Fountain Place and winning international architecture awards but not enough high-paying tenants. Whatever Stokes said worked: Caterpillar agreed to take the franchise from Morgan and give it to him."

"Jenkins suggested that Gibbs turn his attention to the two places in the world with excellent low-volume, specialist cultures for car making: northern Italy and the British Midlands. Since Gibbs spoke no Italian, it made sense to look first at the Midlands. In the UK half a dozen companies, including Morgan, Aston Martin, TVR and Lotus, manufactured cars in low volumes. They were supported by engineers with the sorts of skills and mind-set that Gibbs needed. The decision was made; Jenkins merged his business with Gibbs’, and Gibbs and Jenkins became partners. The project moved across the Atlantic. In Neil Jenkins, Gibbs had found a Trevor Farmer-like figure to help him with the car project. Since the engineering challenges fascinated him, Gibbs would have a more hands-on role than he had had with his former businesses, such as Freightways and Ceramco, but he’d long since learnt that he needed a trusted and capable partner on the spot."