Detail from Nancy Baker Cahill’s Contract Killers (2021), animated AR artwork © 2021 Nancy Baker Cahill. All Rights Reserved.
When in 1985, a Texas jury awarded Pennzoil $10.53bn in damages for getting the short end of the contractual stick, the world learned just how powerful a handshake could be. One year prior in New York, the oil giant had reached an informal, but binding agreement to purchase a large stake in Getty Oil for $5.2bn. Representatives from each company shook hands and the deal was announced. Shortly afterwards, Texaco made a very appealing counteroffer, which Getty accepted, leaving Pennzoil in the lurch. At the time, the verdict was the highest in US history and forced Texaco to file for bankruptcy, all because Pennzoil’s attorneys argued a handshake is a moral commitment, an agreement between two parties, a contract, the breaking of which has repercussions.
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