http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2002/nf20020222_2866.htm
President Bush may complain that his mother-in-law took a hit on her Enron stock, but it seems his dad made a tidy profit on that other notorious bankruptcy, Global Crossing. In 1999 and 2000, the elder Bush pocketed more than $4.5 million by selling Global Crossing stock, according to Securities & Exchange Commission documents obtained by BusinessWeek. His last sale came just weeks before the once high-flying telecom's stock started tanking.
The elder Bush and his wife, Barbara, sold 100,000 Global Crossing shares on Nov. 16, 1999, for $4.45 million, according to the documents. Then, the Bushes notified the SEC they were selling an additional 1,000 shares on Mar. 13, 2000, for $55,000. The former First Family had acquired at least 100,000 shares of Global Crossing stock as a private investment on Apr. 21, 1998, the documents say.
METEORIC TRAJECTORY. The shares listed in the documents may have been payment for appearances the elder Bush, whose normal speaking fee ran $80,000, made at Global Crossing conferences. In the months before he acquired the stock in April, 1998, Bush made speeches on behalf of Global Crossing in Tokyo in February and in Barcelona in April. Jean Becker, spokeswoman for the former President, says Bush also addressed Global Crossing audiences in June, 1999, in Virginia and in June, 2000, in Rochester, N.Y. The Bushes acquired the 100,000 shares four months before Global Crossing went public at $19 a share (the stock split two-for-one six months later).
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/ dave /