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Armand Hammer

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Armand Hammer
Born (1898-05-21) 21 May 1898 (age 128)
New York City, U.S.
Died10 December 1990(1990-12-10) (aged 92)
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, philanthropist
Known forBusiness ventures with the Soviet Union; CEO and chairman of Occidental Petroleum

Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990) was a prominent American entrepreneur and philanthropist. Born to a communist activist from the Russian Empire, Hammer initially pursued medical training before embarking on a business career focused on trade with the Soviet Union. He accumulated wealth through ventures in pharmaceuticals and whiskey, eventually acquiring control of the ailing Occidental Petroleum in 1956.[1] Serving as both CEO and chairman for over three decades, he steered Occidental into becoming one of the most significant corporations in the United States.[2][3] Often referred to as "Lenin's favored capitalist," Hammer was also noted for his extensive art collection and his close connections with Soviet officials.[4][5]

Through his international business dealings and efforts in "citizen diplomacy," Hammer established a vast network of powerful contacts worldwide.

Early life

Armand Hammer was born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents, Rose (née Lipschitz) and Julius Hammer, who hailed from the Russian Empire—Rose originated from Vitebsk (present-day Belarus), and Julius from Odesa (now Ukraine). Julius emigrated to America in 1875 and settled in the Bronx, where he operated a medical practice alongside five drugstores.[6]

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Julius led a faction within the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP) that played a role in establishing the Communist Party USA, endorsing Lenin and Bolshevik ideology. Acting as both administrative leader and financial consultant for the Ludwig Martens-headed Russian Soviet Government Bureau, Julius utilized his company, Allied Drug, to funnel proceeds from illicit diamond sales to support Soviet operations within the U.S. His associate Abraham A. Heller oversaw the Bureau’s commercial activities.[7]

Julius and Heller actively worked to undermine the U.S. embargo against Soviet Russia by fostering trade relations and enhancing Bolshevik reputation among American socialists. Allied Drug also functioned as a front for smuggling merchandise between the United States and Soviet Russia through Riga.[7]

After law enforcement raided the Soviet Russian Government Bureau in 1919, Martens went into hiding, often taking refuge at Hammer’s residence until his deportation in 1920.[8]

Initially, Hammer claimed his name was inspired by Armand Duval, a character from La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. However, he later acknowledged that it actually derived from the "arm and hammer" emblem associated with the SLP, where his father held a leadership position.[9]

Father's imprisonment

Due to his involvement with socialist and communist movements, Julius Hammer was monitored by federal authorities. On July 5, 1919, agents observed Marie Oganesoff—the Russian spouse of a former tsarist diplomat—entering Julius’s medical office located within his Bronx home. Oganesoff, who suffered from previous miscarriages and fragile health, was pregnant and sought an abortion amid the 1918 influenza pandemic. Six days after undergoing the procedure, she succumbed to pneumonia. Approximately four weeks later, a Bronx County grand jury charged Julius Hammer with first-degree manslaughter. The subsequent summer, prosecutors persuaded a jury that Julius had neglected Oganesoff’s care, discounting arguments attributing her death to influenza complications. In 1920, Julius received a sentence of three and a half years at Sing Sing prison.

While most historical accounts attribute performing the abortion to Julius Hammer himself, author Edward Jay Epstein contends in Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer that it was actually Armand—then still a medical student—who carried out the procedure, with Julius accepting responsibility publicly. Epstein’s assertion is based on interviews with Bettye Murphy, Armand’s former mistress. According to their testimony, the legal approach was for Julius not to deny involvement but to emphasize that the abortion was medically necessary, believing that testimony from a licensed physician would carry more weight than that of a student doctor.

Allied Drug

The cessation of operations at the Soviet Russian Government Bureau brought an end to Allied Drug's smuggling activities between the United States and the Soviet Union, leaving the company burdened with considerable debts due to unpaid stock stored in warehouses located in New York and Riga. In March 1921, Ludwig Martens dispatched a letter from Moscow authorizing Allied Drug and Chemical to engage in trade with the Soviet government and requested that a company delegate be stationed within the Soviet Union.

During Julius Hammer's incarceration, he and his brother expanded Allied Drug's business by reselling equipment purchased at low prices following World War I. In 1919, the firm generated $1 million in revenue by producing and marketing a ginger extract with a high alcohol content, which gained popularity during Prohibition.

Family envoy in Soviet Union

While Julius Hammer was imprisoned, Armand Hammer was assigned to oversee Allied Drug’s interests in the Soviet Union despite lacking proficiency in Russian. Over the subsequent decade, he frequently traveled between America and the Soviet Union. Armand completed his undergraduate studies at Columbia College in 1919 and earned a medical degree in 1921.

In 1921, as he awaited an internship at Bellevue Hospital, Armand embarked on a journey to the Soviet Union that lasted until 1930. Although he ultimately abandoned his medical profession, he appreciated retaining the title "Dr. Hammer." His declared objective was to recover $150,000 owed for pharmaceuticals shipped during the Allied intervention, but he soon expanded into commercial ventures such as exporting wheat to famine-affected Russia. Despite his claims of restricting travel to Western Europe, U.S. officials including J. Edgar Hoover suspected him of serving as a COMINTERN courier and maintained surveillance on him throughout his life.

First trip to Russia

After departing from Columbia Medical School, Hammer built upon prior entrepreneurial efforts by importing goods and exporting pharmaceuticals to the Soviet Union alongside his brother Victor. Following the lifting of the Soviet blockade in February 1921, he left New York on July 5, 1921, representing Allied Drug in Soviet Russia. Prior to departure, he met with Charles Recht, Lenin’s U.S. legal representative, who entrusted him with a package destined for Ludwig Martens in Moscow. During this visit, Hammer permitted the Cheka, later known as the KGB, to assume control over Allied Drug and Chemical.

Asbestos concession

While operating in Soviet Russia, Hammer developed techniques involving bribery and money laundering that were later exposed through recorded transactions during the 1960s and 1970s. Upon returning to America, he asserted that Lenin had awarded him a 25-year concession for asbestos mining in the Ural Mountains. On this initial journey, Hammer reportedly delivered $60,000 worth of medical supplies intended for a typhus outbreak and negotiated an exchange deal involving American wheat for Soviet commodities such as furs, caviar, and state-confiscated jewelry.

Lenin New Economic Policy

Under Lenin’s New Economic Policy, Hammer functioned as an intermediary for 38 international corporations conducting business with the USSR. Prior to Lenin’s passing, he facilitated the importation of Fordson tractors which played a crucial role in advancing mechanized farming within the Soviet Union. Following Stalin’s ascent to power, Hammer continued his efforts negotiating commercial agreements between American enterprises and Soviet entities.

Hammer's relocation to the Soviet Union

During the 1920s, Armand Hammer moved to the Soviet Union to oversee his large-scale enterprise focused on producing and exporting writing instruments such as pens and pencils. Alexander Barmine, appointed by the Central Committee to supervise Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga—a company competing against Hammer—revealed that the original stationery concession had been awarded to Julius Hammer. Barmine observed that the party invested five million gold rubles in purchasing stationery from factories under Julius Hammer and other concession holders, yielding considerable profits. Although Barmine's factory eventually manufactured pens of equal or superior quality, the primary Soviet pencil trust never reached the standards set by Hammer during his tenure in the USSR. Armand Hammer stayed in the Soviet Union until 1930.

Return to America

Upon his return to the United States, Hammer received multiple Fabergé eggs from Soviet sources between 1930 and 1933. Questions arose regarding their authenticity, with accusations that Anastas Mikoyan, the Soviet trade commissar, provided Hammer with Fabergé hallmarking tools to facilitate the sale of counterfeit items. Victor Hammer, Armand’s brother, asserted that a 1938 New York auction generated millions from both genuine and counterfeit pieces, with commissions benefiting Mikoyan. However, many of these supposed fakes were actually unfinished or unmarked items seized by the Soviet government during the closure of Fabergé workshops; Hammer and his associates completed these pieces for commercial sale.

Joseph Finder’s 1983 publication Red Carpet underscores Hammer’s deep connections with Russia. Edward Jay Epstein, author of Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer, referred to him as "virtually a spy" for the Soviet regime.

Oil ventures, Libyan contracts, and renewed Soviet negotiations

After returning stateside, Hammer expanded into various sectors including business, art, cultural initiatives, and humanitarian projects, alongside investments in American oil production.

He accumulated substantial wealth through United Distillers of America, formerly known as A. Hammer Cooperage Corporation (founded in 1933), which was renamed in 1946. In 1944, he acquired American Distilling Co. and a rum distillery in New Hampshire where his team created the first domestically produced potato-based vodka and blended whiskey marketed through West Shore. Following the 1945 B-25 airplane crash into the Empire State Building, Hammer purchased and renovated the damaged 78th floor to serve as United Distillers' corporate headquarters.

Hammer’s oil portfolio grew significantly when he took control of Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) in 1956. Utilizing Oxy’s interests in Libya, he confronted U.S. domestic oil producers’ price controls and helped pave the way for OPEC’s dominance over global oil pricing. Arthur Andersen conducted audits of Occidental Petroleum. National Geographic recognized Hammer as "a trailblazer in the synthetic fuels industry."

In 1973, Libya nationalized a majority stake—51%—in Oxy’s holdings. The next year, Hammer negotiated a groundbreaking 35-year oil exploration contract with Libya—the first under Muammar Gaddafi’s rule—allocating 81% of production to Libya and 19% to Oxy. At that time, Oxy was Libya's second-largest oil producer and heavily dependent on Libyan crude supplies. The Libyan government frequently exerted pressure on Oxy’s operations, with the company often yielding to Gaddafi’s demands.

Throughout his lifetime, Hammer sustained both commercial and personal relationships with the Soviet Union despite prevailing Cold War hostilities. He invested extensively in fostering peace between the United States and Communist countries, including delivering medical assistance to victims of Chernobyl. According to Daniel Yergin’s The Prize, Hammer served as an intermediary connecting five Soviet General Secretaries with seven U.S. Presidents.

Détente

Leveraging his ties to Yuri Andropov, Armand Hammer appointed Mikhail Ilyich Bruk (born 1923 in Moscow, died 2009 in Jurmala), an English-Russian interpreter, as his personal envoy and translator for all engagements with Soviet officials starting in 1964. Bruk had experience as a technical translator during the inaugural Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. Hammer once remarked, "Mike's KGB".

In early 1969, Hammer took control of Tower International, a Canadian company founded by Cyrus S. Eaton to promote trade between Western countries and the Soviet Union amid restrictions on direct commerce. Hammer’s firm, Occidental Petroleum, assumed Tower International’s liabilities, granting him a controlling interest, while Eaton maintained a 45% share of future earnings. This maneuver placed Hammer at the forefront of East-West commercial exchanges during détente. Tower International later played a significant role in expanding trade between Canada and the Soviet Union during the 1980s perestroika reforms.

Hammer also funded the construction of the World Trade Center Moscow, inaugurated in 1979 and commonly referred to as the Hammer Center, reinforcing his influence within Soviet international business circles.

Trade agreements between Nixon and Brezhnev

Following President Richard Nixon’s landmark summit in Moscow in 1972, Armand Hammer visited the Soviet Union on July 14 of that year, becoming the first individual to arrive there aboard a privately owned Gulfstream aircraft, thus avoiding regular customs procedures. Accompanied by legal counsel Sargent Shriver, Hammer negotiated the initial US-Soviet trade agreement subsequent to Nixon’s talks. Prior to Nixon’s departure, Hammer contributed $100,000 from a Swiss bank account toward Nixon’s reelection campaign. Upon returning through London on July 18, Hammer coordinated a briefing for Nixon with lobbyist Tim Babcock and chief of staff H. R. Haldeman to discuss the trade agreement.

During détente in July 1972, Hammer secured a two-decade contract with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Chemical Industry Minister Leonid Kostandov, formalized in April 1973. The arrangement involved Hammer-controlled entities Occidental Petroleum and Tower International exporting phosphate sourced from Florida to the USSR. In exchange, the Soviets delivered natural gas converted into ammonia, potash, and urea through Hammer’s companies. This fertilizer partnership was intended to extend until Hammer’s centennial year in 1998. The Port of Jacksonville (JaxPort) served as the American export hub. The transaction, valued at $20 billion over twenty years, was partially supported by financing from the Export–Import Bank of the United States, facilitating Soviet construction of ammonia plants along the Volga River and a pipeline connecting to Odessa.

Fertilizer shipments began on July 27, 1978, at Ukraine’s port "Pivdenny," located near Grigorievka. Pivdenny is Ukraine’s deepest maritime facility, capable of accommodating vessels with drafts up to 18.5 meters. Originally known as "Grigorievsky" until 1978 and later as "Port of Yuzhne," it was renamed using Ukrainian nomenclature in April 2019. This port was essential in sustaining the ongoing fertilizer trade between Hammer’s enterprises and the Soviet Union.

Unlawful financial contributions to Nixon's Watergate fund

Although Hammer identified politically as a Democrat, he financially supported candidates from both parties, typically preferring to remain anonymous. In 1972, prior to the enactment of a law prohibiting anonymous political donations, he covertly contributed $46,000 to Nixon's campaign. Later that year, Hammer made three illicit contributions amounting to $54,000 to Nixon's Watergate fund via intermediaries connected to Tim Babcock, who was then Occidental Petroleum's vice president. Charges related to these illegal donations led both Hammer and Babcock to plead guilty. Hammer was sentenced to probation and fined $3,000. In August 1989, President George H. W. Bush granted Hammer a pardon for these offenses.

Connections with the Gore family

Al Gore Sr., a former U.S. Senator and longtime legal representative for Occidental’s coal operations, maintained a close friendship with Hammer. After his 1970 Senate defeat, Gore Sr. assumed leadership of Island Creek Coal Company, an Occidental subsidiary. Much of Occidental’s coal and phosphate output was based in Tennessee—the state Gore Sr. had represented—and he held equity in the company. Upon his passing, his shares were inherited by his estate, sparking environmentalist criticism when they transferred to former Vice President Al Gore Jr., who served as executor but neither controlled nor retained the shares; they were ultimately sold.

Hammer was a prominent backer of Gore Jr.’s political trajectory. In 1984, under Hammer’s mentorship, Gore Jr. campaigned for Tennessee’s Senate seat formerly occupied by Howard Baker. Hammer allegedly assured Gore Sr. that he could assist in propelling his son toward the presidency and encouraged Gore Jr. to vie for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. From the inception of Gore Jr.’s political career until Hammer’s death two years prior to the 1992 presidential election, Hammer remained a key supporter.

Ownership interest in Arm & Hammer

During the 1980s, Hammer possessed a substantial equity stake in Church & Dwight—the company producing Arm & Hammer products—and held a position on its board of directors. Notably, the Arm & Hammer brand originated 31 years before Hammer’s involvement. While both Hammer and Occidental asserted that this investment was coincidental, Hammer acknowledged efforts to acquire the brand due to frequent inquiries about any connection.

Chairmanship of the President's Cancer Panel

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Hammer to serve on the three-person President's Cancer Panel, where he acted as chairman from 1984 through 1989. During his tenure as chair, he initiated a campaign targeting an annual fundraising goal of $1 billion dedicated to cancer research and treatment programs.

Additional endeavors and interests

Hammer was an active philanthropist with commitments spanning education, healthcare, and the arts. He amassed collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artworks; his gifts formed the foundational holdings of the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Together with his brother Victor, he owned New York City's Hammer Galleries. In 1971, he acquired Knoedler—the nation’s oldest art gallery—and appointed art historian John Richardson as director; Richardson later characterized Hammer as "a veteran con man."

One notable legacy is the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West (UWC-USA), established in 1981 with backing from then-Prince Charles of Wales, who presided over United World Colleges International at that time. Due to their close relationship, Hammer was regarded as a symbolic godfather figure to one of Prince Charles’s children. Reports suggest Charles intended for Hammer to be Prince William’s godfather but abandoned this plan following Princess Diana's objections. Throughout the 1980s, Hammer provided significant financial support—nearly £40 million—to Charles’s initiatives and offered complimentary use of his Boeing 727 aircraft.

Hammer also contributed generously to various Jewish organizations, particularly those focused on Holocaust remembrance alongside friends Harry and Rosa Strygler. Although nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize—including by Menachem Begin—Hammer never received the honor.

By 1986, Forbes estimated his net worth at approximately $200 million.

In 1988, Hammer appeared as a guest on an episode of The Cosby Show, where he discussed prospects for an imminent cancer cure.

He led Occidental Petroleum during the tragic 1988 Piper Alpha oil rig disaster that claimed 167 lives; The Cullen Report identified numerous safety deficiencies on the platform.

By 2016, six biographies and two autobiographies (published in 1932 and a bestselling edition in 1987) had been written about him. His art collection was documented in The Armand Hammer Collection: Four Centuries of Masterpieces, published by the Armand Hammer Foundation in multiple editions; this collection later expanded to span five centuries and was exhibited jointly with museums. His philanthropic contributions have also been extensively chronicled.

Awards

In 1978, although not a Soviet citizen, Hammer was honored with the Order of Friendship of Peoples by Leonid Brezhnev in recognition of his backing of the International Workers and Communist movement and alignment with Soviet objectives. Throughout his lifetime, Hammer accumulated numerous distinguished honors, such as:

Personal life

Hammer was the second son among three siblings and maintained strong familial and professional ties with his brothers Harry and Victor Hammer.

His marital history includes three unions: initially in 1927 with Russian actress Olga Vadimovna von Root; subsequently in 1943 to Angela Zevely; and lastly in 1956 to affluent widow Frances Barrett, who remained his spouse until her passing in 1989.

From his first marriage, Hammer fathered one son, Julian Armand Hammer. His lineage includes grandson businessman Michael Armand Hammer and great-grandson actor Armie Hammer.

Hammer passed away at age 92 in December 1990 in Los Angeles due to bone marrow cancer. He was laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, situated near Occidental Petroleum’s headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard.

Publications

Articles

Books

See also

Bibliography

Further reading

Biographical profiles

Books

Catalogs

Novels

  • Triantafyllou, Soti. To Ergostassio ton Molivion [The Pencil Factory] (originally in Greek). Patakis (2000).

External links

  1. ↑ Britannica Money
  2. ↑ Oil & Gas Journal
  3. ↑ FundingUniverse
  4. ↑ The Economist
  5. ↑ Christian Science Monitor
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Remarkable
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Hammer
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MartensBio
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Untold
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