Gulf and Western Industries
Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. The company originally focused on manufacturing and resource extraction, but it began purchasing a number of entertainment companies beginning in 1966 and continuing through the 1970s. Most notable among the acquisitions were film studio Paramount Pictures in 1966, television studio Desilu Productions in 1967, arcade and later videogame manufacturer Sega in 1969, book publisher Simon & Schuster in 1975, and a number of music labels including Dot Records (a subsidiary of Paramount at the time of purchase). Some of these properties were reorganized under the Paramount brand, with Dot Records becoming the nucleus of Paramount Records and Desilu being renamed Paramount Television.
| Formerly | Michigan Bumper Corporation (1934–1955) Michigan Plating and Stamping Company (1955–1958) Gulf and Western Corporation (1958–1960) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
Traded as | NYSE: GW |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1934 (as the Michigan Bumper Corporation) |
| Founder | Charles Bluhdorn |
| Defunct | 1989 |
| Fate | Asset management; re-branded as Paramount Communications in 1989 |
| Successor | Paramount Communications |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
Key people | Alexander N. Brainard, Alvaro L. Carta, Barry Diller, Carl E. Anderson, Carlos Morales Troncoso, Charles Moore, Charles S. Lowry, David Rosen, Dominic Tampone, Don Gaston, Everett L. Kelly, E. W. Kelley, Francis Levien, Frank V. Rogers, Frank Yablans, George Granger, Harold L. Glasser, Harold U. Zerbe, Harry E. Gould, Hayao Nakayama, James E. Poole, James I. Spiegel, J. D. Barnette, Jim Judelson, Joel Dolkart, John H. Duncan, John A. Leone, J. Robert Baylis, Judd Leighton, Lawrence E. Levinson, Lindsay F. Johnson, Martin S. Davis, Merrill L. Nash, Michael Eisner, Norman B. Parker, O. C. Carmichael Jr., Paul R. Dupee Jr., Philip Levin, Raymond D. Slavin, Reece A. Overcash Jr., Richard Snyder, R. L. McCann, Robert Evans, Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster, Samuel J. Silberman, Stanley Jaffe, Sidney Hack, Teobaldo Rosell, T. H. Neyland, Thomas S. Perry |
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The company pivoted to focus on entertainment and publishing, selling off its other assets through the course of the 1980s. Gulf and Western re-branded itself as Paramount Communications in 1989.
A controlling interest of Paramount Communications was purchased by Viacom in 1994, and the entertainment assets of Gulf and Western are today part of the media conglomerate Paramount Global.