James Joseph “Jimmy” Ling (1922–2004) was an American businessman and former head of the manufacturing conglomerate Ling-Temco-Vought Corporation.
Born in Hugo, Oklahoma, Ling became an electrician after training at a U.S. Navy school in Mississippi. In 1947, he started his own Dallas-based electrical contracting business, Ling Electric Company, taking it public in 1955. He marketed his stock through door-to-door canvassing and selling from a kiosk at the Texas State Fair.
Ling was a maverick in conceiving the conglomerate business model, building in 14 years the 14th largest industrial corporation in the United States. In 1956, Ling bought L.M. Electronics, followed by Altec Electronics in 1959 and Temco Aircraft in 1960. In 1961, he purchased Chance Vought Aircraft, combining his interests into Ling-Temco-Vought.
A significant risk taker, Ling considerably used debt to sustain parent company growth and profitability. His empire fell apart after he acquired the loss-making Jones & Laughlin Steel Company in 1970. He had to sell subsidiaries to contain the ensuing financial bleeding amid the higher interest rates and inflation in the 1970s.
Stanley H. Brown wrote the biography Ling: The Rise, Fall, and Return of a Texas Titan (1999.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by James J. Ling
Don’t tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done.
—James J. Ling
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