Saturday, July 13,
2002
Harken
co-founder views headlines from safe distance
By Jerry Daniel
Reed
Reporter-News Staff Writer
Phil Kendrick views
the company he co-founded 29 years ago almost as a wayward child,
though he will not accuse George W. Bush of leading it astray.
Kendrick and Harry
Mulligan founded the Harken Oil Co. in Los Angeles in 1973, moving
the headquarters to Abilene the following year. Kendrick —
the “ken” in Harken — sold his stake in the company
in 1983, three years before Bush became a stockholder and director
in a swap for the assets of his own Spectrum Energy Co.
Bush’s sale
of 212,140 shares of Harken Energy Co. stock in 1990, coupled
with late reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission about
his purchase and sale of stocks, has come under scrutiny lately
as the president calls for higher ethical standards in corporate
America.
Kendrick’s acquaintance
with Bush began more than two decades ago when Bush was a Midland
oilman. Kendrick, who still lives in Abilene, was impressed enough
to support him for governor, then for president.
Although he does
not know Bush well enough — or Harken, anymore — to
harbor inside information about insider stock trading involving
the man and the firm, that doesn’t stop the media inquiries,
he said.
Every time Bush has
run for office, reporters for metropolitan newspapers and news
magazines have called to chat about Harken and Bush, Kendrick
said. He issues a standard disclaimer at the outset: “I don’t
know anything bad about George Bush.”
“Got rid of
quite a few of them at the outset,’’ he said with a
chuckle.
Although he sold
his stake in the oil exploration company in 1983, Kendrick remains
an interested observer. His pension was invested in Harken stock,
and he cannot escape the parental tug.
“It was your
baby; you started it, you named it, so you can’t help but
be interested,’’ he explained.
After selling his
Harken stock in 1983, Kendrick remained a consultant and head
of Australian operations for about a year. Since then, he has
followed Harken through company reports and news stories.
With new ownership,
Harken relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Kendrick
does not approve of much of what he has seen the company do. Soaring
executive salaries and directors’ fees, plus easy loans and
generous stock options to executives and directors, have rooked
the stockholders, he said.
As for Bush’s
tardy reports, he suspects someone else with Harken dropped the
ball after Bush completed his paperwork and before the SEC received
the report.
“I think George
probably did everything right himself, as far as selling that
stock,” he concluded.
Contact
public affairs writer Jerry Reed at 676-6769 or reedj@reporternews.com
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