1000 Milwaukee Ave., Glenview 60025, 708-391-7000
– Founded: 1918
– Fiscal year-end: Dec. 31
– Chief executive
Jerry K. Pearlman, 53, since 1983
1991 cash compensation: $449,985
Shares owned: 64,544 of 29.2 million common shares
– Employees: 27,600; 5,200 in Illinois
– Foreign sales: 4.8 percent of $1.32 billion total in 1991
– May 1, 1992, value of $1,000 in company stock:
Purchased May 1, 1991: $1,071
Purchased May 1, 1987: $280
– After 74 years in business-the last five in the red, on a pretax operating income basis-Zenith has become a ”technology play” for investors. Their interest is in two new video products: higher-resolution ”flat tension mask” monitors for computers and televisions; and a high-definition TV transmission system developed with American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Zenith describes 1992 as a ”critical year” for these technologies.
– The recession and price competition continue to bang at Zenith`s traditional consumer electronics businesses. In a further effort to cut operating costs, Zenith in March began shifting the last of its TV set final assembly out of Springfield, Mo., and into Mexico.
– After crying the blues for years about foreign competition, Zenith in 1991 got a little bit of Seoul. A unit of Lucky Gold Star Group of South Korea paid $15 million for about a 5 percent stake in Zenith. Last year, Zenith defeated a bid for board representation by its largest shareholder, Nycor Inc. of New Jersey.
