American Notes

When he died in 1973, former President Lyndon Johnson left behind an assortment of thriving Texas broadcast and real estate properties that in 1985 was valued at more than $100 million. But now the LBJ Co., owned almost entirely by the Johnson family, is being dismantled for far less, a victim of the state's economic bust. KLBJ AM-FM, the highly profitable Austin radio . station once valued at $27 million, is on the block for $13.5 million. Thirty cable-TV systems may bring $50 million.

The sell-off was hastened by the illness and retirement of CEO Donald Thomas, LBJ's lawyer, who ran the financial empire single-handedly for years. Neither Lady Bird Johnson, 78, nor daughters Lynda and Luci, who live far from Texas, are prepared to ride herd on the business. Besides, the seven Johnson grandchildren, who hold stakes in the company through their trusts, are growing up. "It's generational change," said family spokesman George Christian. "Everything dictated that they all go their separate ways." And probably quite comfortably: all the properties being offered are free of debt.