After five years of dry holes and middling wells, George was in trouble. He decided to rename his company and showcase the family name so that he could attract more people to limited partnerships. He wanted to go public, expand his company, and raise $6 million. Hence, Arbusto became Bush Exploration Company, but George failed miserably. He raised only $1.3 million. Worse, he drilled only dry holes, and his investors lost 75 percent of their money.
"I really realized I had made somewhat of a strategic error," he admitted later.
"I was called in to handle the name change," recalled the Midland attorney Robert K. Whitt, "and I jumped at the chance. I wanted to get to know George better. That was in May 1982. He was already throwing around that vice presidential stuff. To really impress us, he'd say 'When Dad and the President...' or 'When the Vice President and Reagan get together...' That was pretty heady stuff in a little Texas town of about seventy thousand people.
"After I did the name change for George, he called and asked us to prepare an agreement to sell 10 percent of his company for $1 million to Phillip A. Uzielli...'Keep it bland,' he said. 'Phil will bring in the money.' I've never done a deal like that...The deal smelled.; it really smelled., but it wasn't illegal. Still, I couldn't figure out why someone would spend $1 million to buy 10 percent of a company that was worth only $382,386. In other words, Uzielli paid $1 million for assets that were worth $38,237.
"I became even more suspicious when Uzielli walked in, slid a blank check across the table for $1 million, and said 'Where do I sign?' He had no attorney. he asked no questions. He requested no information. So strange for a $1 million tranaction, even in the high-flying oil and gas business.
"'Don't you want to read the agreeement?' I asked
"'It's not my money,' he said. 'I'm not concerned.'
"The stock was issued in the name of a Panamanian corporation named Executive Resources, of which Uzielli was chairman and CEO...George didn't want me to include wording in the legal papers that stated the corporation was organized under the laws of Panama and the sale was consummated with a cash purchase of $1 million, but I had to."
George, who gave everyone a nickname, called the lawyer "Dim wit." When Robert Whitt, then with the law firm of Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe, and Dawson, asked George why he was doing business with a Panamanian corporation, he replied: "Dumb question, Dim wit."
