American-Asiatic Oil Corporation
Post-World War II rise and fall of the amazing Harry Stonehill.
According to the man who envisioned Spider-Man, the life story of Harry S. Stonehill “would make a great movie by someone like Oliver Stone.”
Stonehill returned to the Philippines after his Army service in the Pacific during World War II. He became wealthy from a variety of business ventures, but eventually was forced to flee the Philippines — and several other countries. Stan Lee, creator of the comic book web-slinger in 1962, was an old Army buddy of Lt. Harry Stonehill.
In 2011, Lee told Forbes magazine:
After the war, he said to me, “Hey Stan Come to the Philippines with me.” I said, “Why?” And he said, “I found out that they don’t have Christmas cards there. I’m going to buy a batch of Christmas cards and start a business.” I said, “I love ya, Harry, but you’re a lunatic.” And I went back to my comics and he went off to the Philippines.
By 1957, Stonehill was a multimillionaire when he organized American-Asiatic Oil Corporation. He had built a $50 million fortune in more than a dozen enterprises, including cotton, textiles and real-estate development. He also owned U.S. Tobacco, which held a virtual cigarette monopoly in the country; it would lead to his troubles. (more…)
