Melvyn L. Bell - Page 4

                                        - 4 -                                         

          his interest.  Petitioner also lent money to another company that           
          was near bankruptcy, Consumat Systems, Inc., a solid waste                  
          incineration business.  With petitioner's funding, Consumat                 
          Systems became profitable.                                                  
               From 1973 until 1986, petitioner's primary business activity           
          was serving as the chairman and chief executive officer of                  
          Environmental Systems Co., Inc. (ENSCO), a hazardous waste                  
          disposal company.  In 1972, petitioner had advanced a substantial           
          amount of money to ENSCO to develop a hazardous waste                       
          incinerator.  Shortly after petitioner provided the financing, it           
          became clear that ENSCO would be unable to repay him.  Petitioner           
          decided to become more involved in the management and operation             
          of the struggling company with the goal of making it profitable.            
          He also took shares in the company based on his previous                    
          advances.  In 1986, petitioner decided to decrease his                      
          involvement in the day-to-day operations of ENSCO and remain                
          involved only in the company's long-term planning.  At that time,           
          petitioner had been selling some of his ENSCO stock.  From 1985             
          through 1988, petitioner sold ENSCO stock for total sales                   
          proceeds of approximately $31 million and capital gain of                   
          approximately $30.9 million.  In September 1988, petitioner owned           
          over 2.3 million shares of ENSCO stock with an estimated value of           
          $38.4 million.                                                              
               When petitioner began to withdraw from the management of               
          ENSCO, he decided to become more active in other business                   
          ventures.  In particular, he intended to acquire financially                


Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011