James Robertson III, led American Express
James Robinson III, who led American Express during the 1980s era of takeovers and merger mania, transforming the once-niche travel and credit card brand into a financial services and securities giant before his ouster as the market cooled, died March 18 at a hospital in Roslyn, N.Y. He was 88.
The death was caused by respiratory failure related to pneumonia, according to a family statement.
Robinson retained much of his Georgia upbringing: a Southern lilt, genteel manners and the homespun handle “Jimmy Three Sticks” from the Roman numerals in his name. As a corporate head, though, he was right at home in Manhattan’s winner-take-all ethos during a time when companies were being gobbled up and brinkmanship ruled.
He was on the losing side in one of biggest corporate bidding wars of the 1980s, the 1988 scramble to control tobacco and food colossus RJR Nabisco that hit an eventual price tag of $25 billion. But later, Robinson helped bring sweeping changes to Wall Street by tirelessly lobbying for the deregulation of the financial industry.
Robinson moved into the chief executive suites at American Express in 1977 after a power struggle that left him on top. He was eager to shake up a company with roots stretching back to before the Civil War. To Robinson, American Express had grown too complacent sticking with its flagship credit cards and traveler’s checks and services.
His acquisition hunt began almost immediately. Robinson made an unsuccessful bid in 1978 for the publishing company McGraw Hill, seeking to expand the Amex portfolio into media. He followed up by striking a deal with Warner Communications for a stake in emerging cable TV systems.
American Express ended the cable deal in 1985, but not before Robinson put forth a prescient vision of how nearly everything — financial services, stock trades and credit card payments — would eventually migrate to online platforms.
His biggest target became one of the capstone moments of the wild 1980s. Robinson gave the green light to one of Amex’s crown jewels, the newly merged investment firm Shearson Lehman Hutton, to back an RJR Nabisco management group seeking to take control. An offer of $75 a share was made to take the company private.
The announcement opened the gates. Nearly every private equity firm put up bids with Nabisco in play. Robinson became an adviser to the Nabisco management faction, led by the highflying chief executive F. Ross Johnson. In the end, the company directors accepted a $109-a-share buyout deal with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.