LYCOS RETRIEVER 
George W. Bush: Harken Energy
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Bush’s oil companies never enjoyed great success. He changed the name of Arbusto Energy to Bush Exploration and spent time in New York attracting investors. In 1984... his company merged with a larger company, Spectrum 7. Bush became chairman of Spectrum 7, but the company was hurt by falling oil prices. In 1986 it was folded into Harken Energy Corporation, another Texas petroleum company. Bush served as a consultant and a member of Harken’s board of directors.
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As the declining oil prices of the early 1980s took their toll on his company (by now renamed Bush Exploration), Bush accepted an offer to merge with an oil-investing fund called Spectrum 7, and became a chairman of the resulting corporation. In 1986, after a sudden collapse in the price of oil, Bush arranged for Spectrum to be sold to Harken Energy for a bargain price. He later sold his original stock shares and made a considerable profit.
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Sometime during Harken's fraud-ridden implosion, George realized that his true calling wasn't managing the business end of things, but rather being its public face. In April 1989, Bush invested $500,000 of borrowed money in the Texas Rangers. In return, he received an annual salary of approximately $200,000 and the title of Managing General Partner. It meant that he represented the investors, but everybody pretty much treated him as though he were the sole owner.
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Bush began his career in the oil industry in 1975 when he formed the oil and gas exploration company Arbusto Energy and continued working in the energy industry until 1986. His forays into the industry were disastrous, losing millions of dollars.
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After working with land and mineral rights and doing a bit of investing in drilling George started his own oil and gas company around 1978. In 1983 he became the CEO of Spectrum 7, another energy company that merged with his.
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George Bush, Junior sold 60% of his stock in Harken Oil in June, 1990 for $848,560. That was brilliant timing; in August, Iraq invaded Kuwait and Harken's stock dropped 25%. Soon after, a big quarterly loss caused it to drop further.
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