PIGS AND PEPPER

Dunstan Times, 13 May 1935, Page 6

PIGS AND PEPPER

SIDELIGHT ON REGENT BIG CRASH

Garabcd Bishirgian, the man who tried to “ corner ” the world s pepper, Ls first and foremost a born gambler. He will gamble on anything from pokei and horse racing to stocks and shares, writes Sydney Mdrell in the ‘ Sunday Express.’ Ho has earned the reputation of being one of the biggest “ bulls ” in the city. A ‘ bull ” is a person who buys commodities cheaply in the hope that their price will rise. He was born about fifty years ago in Armenia, when his land had little cause to give thanks for Turkish rule. He has a thick Turkish carpet in his luxurious mansion in Park Lane, W., to-day. Perhaps his early years give the reason why ho likes to walk up and down on it. No one who visits him now in that mansion seems to have known him when he first came to Britain. He stepped into the limelight about ten years ago by securing an option on a largo number of tin shares at a cheap price. He “ bulled ” well. The price of shares rose sufficiently to give him a good'- profit. Fond of luxury himself, he catered for luxurious tastes. Ho went into the caviare business. He and three other men floated a company,, Grivan Products Ltd., and began to import caviare. He resigned bis directorship of Grivan Products in 1931, but kept his shares. It had £I.OOO capital. True they had at first no premises, and sold only two £1 shares, but they soon found a little building in Soho and started work. That was in 1925. The little Armenian was then a merchant. He had already made enough money to take a house in Brook street, W. The next year he became a sharebroker and opened an office in Old Broad street, city. He dealt in everything that could give him profit. He became a metal broker on a commission basis. In 1929 lie became a British subject He went up and up. He gave expensive parties. Every evening _in the week, il you stood outside his home in Park Lane, you would see a constant procession of men arriving at the house They knocked, the door was opened immediately and they went inside to Mr Bishirgian’s nightly at-home. He might not be at home, his guests might arrive hours before him, but the house was open to them. They were always men. He is not married. Most »f the guests are his clients. Mr Bishirgian’s cocktail parties are famous in the city. He is probably one of the most generous men in London. He will purposely lose £2O or £3O in a wild bid at poker so that a needy friend can win it. He is tactful with every gift he makes. The city deals by which he makes his living find their outlet in pokei and horse racing. But his greatest pride is Ins pigs. He has a model farm at Ockley, Surrey, where he keeps about 600 pigs of every description. Every week-end he leaves the bustle of the city and the stately social life of Park Lane and travels down to his farm to become a farmer. He dresses simply. If ever you sec a little stout man in the city wearing shiny black boots with cloth uppers, you will know that it is Mr Bishirgian. He is not religious. A friend once said that his only god is a rising share. He seldom drinks. He is too busy weighing up the public outlook to bo fond of drink. That is how he makes his fortunes. He studies statistics, sees imports, hears there is supposed to be a shortage of a commodity, then goes in and buys, buys, buys ... Sometimes he is wrong, and then he stands to lose a fortune. It Ls only a few years ago that I know he was dead broke,” a friend of his fold me “He always makes it up.” His gieatest deals have been in the ease metals—tin, copper, lead, spelter. He has probably left his mark on all of them. Probably, as another friend told me —and this is not derogatory to Mr Bishirgian—there is nothing constructive in his mind. He is not the man who would organise a business, building it painfully brick upon brick. He would not be content with this. It has to be more spectacular. He is fond of excitement, he likes a fight. All he wants, as lie admits, is to keep on making money. And in spite of the fortunes ho makes bis tastes remain simple. He goes to bed early-—about 10.30 p.m.— and sleeps til! eight. Then he is up and hack in the city again.