Kinney Parking Company


Kinney Parking Company was a New Jersey parking lot company owned by Manny Kimmel, Sigmund Dornbusch, and mob figure Abner Zwillman.

History

The company was incorporated in 1945. Prior to its public listing in 1960 as Kinney Services, it merged with a funeral home company, Riverside Memorial Chapel, and then expanded into car-rental, office cleaning, and construction.

Kinney National

In 1966, the firm merged with the National Cleaning Company to form Kinney National Company, headed by Steve Ross, who had joined Riverside after marrying Carol Rosenthal, owner Edward Rosenthal's daughter. Ross pursued an aggressive expansion of the company's properties, first acquiring Ashley-Famous talent agency, then Panavision, and finally in 1969 Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, creating Dimension Pictures.

Warner Communications

After a financial scandal in the parking division, the non-entertainment assets were spun off again in 1972 as National Kinney Corporation, and the remaining company was renamed Warner Communications, a predecessor to today's WarnerMedia.

National Kinney

National Kinney expanded from parking and building services into real estate development by purchasing the Uris Buildings Corporation, but the timing was bad as the New York real estate market collapsed in the 1973-75 recession. The main Uris Building asset was soon lost to foreclosure.
In 1979, after some protracted negotiations, National Kinney attempted to purchase The Aladdin hotel and casino in Las Vegas in a joint venture with Johnny Carson, planning to rename it after the star. However, Carson's wife Joanna gossiped about the deal, and subsequent trading in National Kinney stock led to insider trading charges against third parties by the SEC and the disgorgement of profits.
In 1982, National Kinney sold its National States Electric division to an undisclosed buyer, and then agreed to sell its parking subsidiary, Kinney System Inc., to that division's chairman Daniel Katz and a group of investors. National Kinney subsequently renamed itself to Andal Corporation and sold its remaining majority interest in Kinney System parking. Andal invested in the declining Steve's Ice Cream and merged in Swensen's before selling them off and unwinding its last operating subsidiary.

Reading

Fortune's Formula, by William Poundstone