Copper Captain

Most companies are ready with a replacement when the top man dies. But Kennecott Copper Corp., largest U.S. copper producer, was a special case. Two years ago its president, E. T. Stannard, and his successor were both killed in an airplane crash (TIME, Sept. 19, 1949).

For their new president, Kennecott directors took a chance on a man who knew nothing about copper. He was Charles Raymond Cox, 60, a rough & ready dynamo who had spent most of his life in the steel business, risen to boss U.S. Steel's largest subsidiary, Carnegie-Illinois. Cox brought in some new blood for Kennecott's executive ranks, expanded research, cut costs where he could. Under Stannard, Kennecott was a one-man show; Cox decentralized.

Last week Cox showed that he had learned his copper lessons well. In the first six months of 1951, he reported, Kennecott profits hit a new peak of $50 million, up 33% from the same period of 1950 (despite a 183% jump in taxes). Some of the gain resulted from a higher price for copper (24 1/2 v. 18 1/2 a Ib. in 1950). But much of it came from the 32% boost in copper production which Charlie Cox and his new team had managed to achieve in a year. This week, as the nation's copperworkers went on strike (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) , Charlie Cox's production gains were threatened and he faced the biggest problem of his new copper career.

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