Stocks and Bonds

Fox Film Stock Certificate, Signed by William Fox 1923


Stock certificate No. 1528 for Fox Film Corporation, 10.25" x 7.5". Dated "July 14, 1923", and signed by William Fox "William Fox". Representing 100 Shares of Class "A" Common Stock, to "John Windhurst". Detailed engraved green border with light glue and paper residue to the right edge, else near fine.


Fox was arguably the most important of all the early movie moguls because of his foundational contributions to the art, technology and business of movies. Always more of an entrepreneur than a showman, Fox concentrated on acquiring and building theaters; pictures were secondary. In 1914, Fox Film began making motion pictures in California, and in 1915 decided to build its own permanent studio. With the introduction of sound technology, Fox moved to acquire the rights to a sound-on-film process. This resulted in the Movietone sound system later known as "Fox Movietone" developed at the Movietone Studio.


When rival Marcus Loew died in 1927, Fox offered to buy the Loew family's holdings. Loew's Inc. controlled more than 200 theaters, as well as the MGM studio. When the family agreed to the sale, the merger of Fox and Loew's Inc. was announced in 1929. But MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer was not included in the deal and fought back. Using political connections, Mayer called on the Justice Department's antitrust unit to delay giving final approval to the merger. Fox was badly injured in a car crash in the summer of 1929, and by the time he recovered he had lost most of his fortune in the fall 1929 stock market crash, ending any chance of the merger going through even without the Justice Department's objections.


Overextended and close to bankruptcy, Fox was stripped of his empire in 1930 and ended up in jail for later bribery charges. Fox Film, with more than 500 theatres, was placed in receivership. A bank-mandated reorganization propped the company up for a time, but it soon became apparent that despite its size, Fox could not stand on its own. William Fox resented the way he was forced out of the company and portrayed it as an active conspiracy against him.


An important scarce piece of film history, signed by William Fox while his empire flourished!


This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.


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