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C. C. Julian

C. C. Julian
C. C. Julian in court, Los Angeles, sometime between 1926 and 1933 (L.A. Times Collection at UCLA)
Born(1885-10-10)October 10, 1885
Manitoba, Canada
DiedMarch 25, 1934(1934-03-25) (aged 48)
Shanghai, China
Burial place"Shanghai's foreign cemetery"
OccupationOil company promoter

Courtney Chauncey Julian (October 10, 1885 – March 25, 1934) was a Canadian-American oil company promoter and con man operating in Los Angeles, California, United States in the 1920s and 1930s.[1]

Biography

Born in the Canadian province of Manitoba on October 10, 1885, to Roman Catholic Irish immigrant parents,[2][3] Julian was the founder and namesake of Julian Petroleum Company, which ultimately "defrauded local investors of $100–$200 million (nearly $3 billion in 2019 dollars) with the help of local businessmen and politicians".[4] He had actually struck oil in the beginning but then started making more money in selling stock in the oil company than from any actual petroleum product, so "to continue doling out dividends, and to pay for his four homes and the gold-lined bathtub into which he plunged each morning, he kept issuing more and more stock, turning his original operation into a scheme of the sort recently made famous by Charles Ponzi".[5]

In his high-rolling heyday, Julian once spent $2,300 to buy a round of champagne for everyone at the Ship Cafe in Venice.[6]

He fled the country to avoid prosecution and committed suicide by intentional drug overdose at the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai, China, on March 25, 1934.[7][8] At the time of Julian's death his wife and two daughters lived in Winnipeg.[9] He was buried in a "foreign cemetery" in Shanghai on May 11, 1934, in a service attended only by his 19-year-old companion Leonora Levy and her sister.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Waldie, D. J. (January 5, 2023). "The Julian Pete Scandal: The Multi-Million Dollar Oil Swindle that Rocked 1920s Los Angeles". PBS SoCal. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  2. ^ "Entry for Francis Julian and Kathleen M Julian, 1901". Canada Census, 1901 – via FamilySearch.
  3. ^ "Entry for Courtney C Julian and Mary O Julian, 1920". United States Census, 1920 – via FamilySearch.
  4. ^ Samples & Matzko (2020), p. 6.
  5. ^ Rayner, Richard (2009). A Bright and Guilty Place: Murder, Corruption, and L.A.'s Scandalous Coming of Age. New York: Doubleday. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-385-53011-8. LCCN 2008043905. OCLC 607089571.
  6. ^ "World-Famous Ship Cafe on Auction Block Today". The Los Angeles Times. October 17, 1946. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  7. ^ L.A. Times (1934).
  8. ^ "Last photo taken of C. C. Julian, oil fraudster, Shanghai, 1935 (copy photo, original photo date circa 1934) - UCLA Library Digital Collections". digital.library.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  9. ^ Evening Post-Record (1935).
  10. ^ "Julian Buried Like Beggar in Shanghai". News-Pilot. San Pedro, California. Associated Press. May 11, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  11. ^ "C. C. Julian Laid to Rest". The Whittier News. United Press. May 11, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-05-05.

Sources

Further reading

  • Tygiel, Jules (1994). The Great Los Angeles Swindle: Oil, Stocks, and Scandal during the Roaring Twenties. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505489-7.


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