[4] Edward Ball, a powerful figure in Florida business and politics for decades, was Mason's friend and mentor.

Included in the deal was a small gasoline refinery in Houston, Texas, in need of updating, a string of gas stations in the Southeast and a handful of questionable tanker contracts.

A Life magazine article in 1970 suggested that the senator used his influence to assist Charter in business deals, but no laws were broken.

Vesco was living in the Bahamas and had declined requests that he return to the U.S. to face charges that he swindled investors out of millions of dollars.

[6] In 1980, Charter decided to buy Commonwealth Oil Refining Company and their Puerto Rican refinery, which processed 160,000 bbl (25,000 m3).

[6] That year, Jack Donnell began eliminating some of the communications and publishing properties and whittled down the list of subsidiaries to a manageable group.

The Charter Company suffered a tragedy in the foggy, early hours of July 29, 1982, when four senior executives died in Ireland when their helicopter crashed en route from Mason's castle to Shannon Airport.

IPC was contracted through Northeastern Pharmaceutical & Chemical Company (NEPACCO) to dispose of a dioxin, specifically 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, which was a byproduct of hexachlorophene production and a known carcinogen.

[18] IPC contracted a local waste management company run by Russell Bliss to dispose of the dioxin.

The discharge of the dioxin-contaminated oil was the basis of claims against IPC by the federal government, the State of Missouri, and over 1,600 private plaintiffs.

IPC entered into settlements covering all of the claims which included over $100 million owed to the federal government for clean-up of various sites in Missouri.

[20] The Charter Company and 43 subsidiaries (including IPC) filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy law on April 20, 1984.

Carl Lindner's American Financial Corporation, which owned 53% of Charter's stock, moved the company from Jacksonville to Cincinnati, Ohio.

That transaction left Charter with one business, an 82% stake in Spelling Entertainment, the television production company that produced over a dozen popular drama series.

[25] On October 5, 1992, the Charter Company was renamed Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc. and updated its NYSE ticker symbol from "CHR" to "SP".

[26] Viacom acquired Blockbuster's stake in Spelling in 1994[27] and purchased its remaining stock in 1999, effectively subsuming the final part of Charter Company into its larger corporate structure.