A Loss for Bob Young

When Railroader Robert R. Young was fighting for control of the $2 billion New York Central in 1953 and 1954, he bought 100,000 Central shares at an average $22 a share. Last week, with Central stock down to 16, Chairman Young admitted that he had quietly shaved his Central holdings to 28,500 shares.

In October, when the price was about 19, he sold 50,000 shares to his wife in a complicated deal for estate purposes. Last month, when the price was as low as 15 1/8, Young unloaded another 21,700 shares for tax purposes. Wall Street insiders figured that Bob Young's loss on the second transaction alone topped $100,000. Some of the Central directors who bought shares to help Young have also lost heavily. But the biggest loss has been incurred by Alleghany Corp., the holding company which helped Young take over the Central. Under Young's chairmanship, Alleghany Corp. bought about 1,000,000 Central shares at an average cost of $31, much of it after the proxy battle. On this stock, Alleghany has a paper loss of some $16.5 million.

Two directors of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad who helped Patrick B. McGinnis get control of the road in 1954 also have been cleaning out their holdings. Francis S. Levien said last week that he has sold all his 12,400 New Haven shares, while Harry E. Gould said that he shucked his 11,000 shares. The sale price: something under $7. Gould, who would not tell how much he had paid, took a substantial loss. Levien, who bought the stock in 1953 and 1954, said he paid about $25 a share for it, took a loss of $200,000.

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