companies. This stock was mainly held by the insurance subsidiaries. In the “bear” market of the early 1970s, Teledyne stock fell from about $40 to less than $8. Singleton saw this as an opportunity to buy back Teledyne stock. In buybacks from October 1972 to February 1976, 22 million shares were repurchased at $14 to $40 – well above the market price. This raised the value of Teledyne stock, eventually increasing to near $175 at the end of the decade. In this period, annual income increased by 89% and net income by 315%. Stockholders who had remained through the buyback achieved a phenomenal gain of about 3,000%. In a rare interview with Forbes, Singleton used a metaphor to describe this growth: “Teledyne is like a living plant, with our companies the different branches, each putting out new branches so that no one business is too significant.” Entering its third decade, Teledyne sales passed the $3 billion mark in 1980, with industrial products leading in both sales and net income. In the race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, government sales reached almost $800 million. Singleton made the first spin-off of a Teledyne operation in 1984. Teledyne Ecology had been involved in nuclear waste disposal, and some stockholders were concerned. He formed US Ecology, giving each stockholder one share for each seven Teledyne shares held, and allowing disposal of the new stock without reducing their Teledyne holdings. The first significant slump in Teledyne business began in 1985. Sales for 1984 had been about $3.49 billion, but decreased to around $3.26 billion the next year and remained essentially flat for the remainder of the decade. At the annual meeting in April 1986, Singleton, who was then 69 years old, announced that he was turning the position of CEO over to Roberts, but was remaining as Board Chairman. During 1988, Teledyne faced a number of legal problems, none of which were the direct result of wrongdoings of Singleton or Roberts. After agreeing to plead guilty to making false statements, Teledyne was fined $17.5 million, but related lawsuits by “whistleblowers” ultimately cost $115 million in settlements. In April 1989, Singleton, after guiding Teledyne for 29 years, retired as an employee and officer. Nevertheless, that was a peak year for Teledyne sales ($3.53 billion) and earnings ($392 million). Teledyne stock price reached $388.88, the highest in the US. Total employment also peaked at near