The giant Huntsman Corp. is being sold to Basell, a division of billionaire investor Leonard Blavatnik’s Access Industries. They will acquire the rival chemical company Huntsman Corp. in a cash deal worth $5.6 billion. What is more interesting, however, is the story of how Jon Huntsman ever made it this far. This is a story that will inspire you…but first here is a quick look at the deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Basell, a Dutch company will acquire all of Huntsman’s outstanding common stock for $25.25 per share in cash.

The deal, which is subject to approval by Huntsman shareholders, as well as U.S. and European regulators, was unanimously approved by the boards of both Basell and Huntsman.

Entities controlled by MatlinPatterson and the Huntsman family, who collectively own 57 percent of Huntsman’s common stock, approve the acquisition, the companies said.

Huntsman Corp. has shopped itself around for some time but talks over the sale of the Salt Lake-based company collapsed last year.

So Jon Huntsman is cashing out big-time, but it wasn’t easy! Here’s the incredible story on how he made it this far…


Huntsman’s “walk through fire” happened shortly after he designed the first plastic egg cartons, and then started a firm with his brother to manufacture them. This was in 1973 when the oil embargo hit, which dried up supplies of petrochemicals. One supplier raised prices 600%, the other cut them off entirely.

Inasmuch as they couldn’t manufacture their product without these supplies, and because the brothers had put up their houses and other assets to start the company, they were in a real bind!

The Board of Directors voted to liquidate the company. Huntsman gave a firebrand optimistic speech at the meeting, saying he’d never be associated with a bankruptcy. Furthermore, they shouldn’t worry, because he had a plan.

At the time Huntsman didn’t know exactly how it’d work, but he had decided that his company would capitalize on the petrochemical shortage. So he and his brother got on a plane and personally called on all the chemical companies. They sold themselves as petrochemical brokers, and bartered for what they needed.

As brokers they asked chemical companies what product they were short of. Sometimes the brothers had to ask how to spell it, and then they’d tell them, “We’ll go find you some.”

On to another company they’d go to find that chemical, but then something else would be needed. They started a chain of trades, sometimes having to trade three or four products out, to get each company what it needed.


No one else was doing this. The oil companies were used to being able to dial a number and have someone deliver what they needed. In one case the brothers found a wholly owned subsidiary of ARCO had a big surplus of one product, while the parent company was short of the same product.

A New York bank agreed to finance the deal based on a purchase order. They then bought a barge load from the subsidiary, turned around and sold it to ARCO for a $600,000 profit.


The first year the brothers completed a dozen trades and netted a $5 million profit in raw materials they needed for their manufacturing efforts.

In retrospect Huntsman admits that his bankers, lawyers, and everyone in his family, except his wife, told him that his strategy wouldn’t work. But, he stressed, “I had confidence. We all have reserves we only tap at times like that. Major inventions and creations are developed during crisis, danger, and potential downfalls.”

In 1996 Huntsman and his wife, Mary, donated $100 million to the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. “Since I was eight and got my first paycheck for picking potatoes in Idaho, I have given the same percentage of my money to others,” says Huntsman, who, as a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also tithes 10% to the church.

At the time it was the largest cash contribution ever for medical research, cancer or otherwise.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 8:57 am and is filed under Best & Brightest Barter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.