In 1957, Michigan Plating and Stamping acquired the Beard & Stone Electric Company of Houston, Texas, and changed its name to Gulf and Western Corporation in 1958.

The name reflected its operations in Houston near the Gulf of Mexico and the intent to serve the growing automotive industry in the Western United States.

A partial list of Gulf and Western's holdings between 1958 and 1982 with the year of acquisition in parentheses: Gulf and Western also owned minority stakes in Camino Gold Mines, Cementos Nacionales, Fertilizantes Santo Domingo, Flying Diamond Oil Corporation, Jonathan Logan, J.P. Stevens & Company, Matadero del Este, Mohasco Corporation, Alberto-Culver, Amfac, B.F. Goodrich, Brunswick Corporation, Bulova, Cluett Peabody & Company, Cummins, Fratelli Fabbri Editori, General Tire, Libbey-Owens-Ford, Munsingwear and Uniroyal, among other companies.

[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] At the time of its acquisition by Gulf and Western in 1966, Paramount was struggling with heavy losses from feature film productions and had stopped producing television programs.

However, it had valuable hidden assets, such as extensive real estate holdings and a library of old movies that could be sold to television networks for large profits.

The acquisition of Paramount was a significant move in Gulf and Western's diversification strategy and allowed the company to expand into the entertainment industry.

In 1967, New Jersey Zinc constructed a diammonium phosphate fertilizer plant in DePue, Illinois, which was later leased and then bought outright by Mobil Chemical.

In 1970, Gulf and Western sold a 50% stake in Marathon Studio Facilities to Società Generale Immobiliare and acquired 15 million shares in the company (which represented 10.5 percent of its common stock).

[43] Also in 1972, Gulf and Western sold its Conrad/Missimer division (which it created after acquiring Missimers in 1968 and merging it with Conrad) to Bemco Inc.,[44] Etablissements Daniel Doyen (which had already been a direct subsidiary since the 1960s) to A.P.S.

In 1975, Gulf and Western formed a joint venture with Union Minière of Belgium called Jersey Miniere Zinc Company.

In 1976, during the shooting of the film Sorcerer in Villa Altagracia, a lawsuit was filed against Cinema Dominica (a subsidiary of Gulf and Western) by Dominican businessmen for alleged damages.

The newspaper El Caribe said that the lawsuit against Cinema Dominica charged that the company had “failed to comply with the rental contract it signed for use of the town's commercial locations.”[50] In 1977, after acquiring Muntz Manufacturing (a projection TV manufacturer founded by Earl Muntz) the year prior, Sega introduced the Sega-Vision widescreen TV (production was suspended the next year).

[52] As a result, Paramount sold the Hughes Television Network (which it had acquired including its satellite time in planning for PTVS in 1976) to Madison Square Garden in 1979.

By year's end, the U.S. Department of Energy (which had invested $15 million in the project) reported that the battery had 65% less power than predicted and could be recharged only by highly trained personnel.

[68][69] In 1983, Gulf and Western sold Consolidated Cigar to a purchasing group composed by five of its senior managers and headed by its president, Alexander N.

[74] Ironically, a couple decades later Paramount and Sega would team up to co-produce a film series based on the latter's flagship video game franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog.

[80] In 1986, as part of its new corporate strategy to focus on the entertainment and publishing industries, Gulf and Western acquired Mann Theatres (Warner Communications was later brought in as a partner).

The building occupies a narrow block between Broadway and Central Park West and, at 583 feet (178 m), it commands the dramatic view to the north, as well as its immediate surroundings.

Similarly, the cinema space in the basement, named Paramount after the picture company that Gulf and Western owned, was closed as the building was sold.

Problems with the 45-story building's structural frame gave it unwanted fame as its base was scaffolded for years and the upper floors were prone to sway excessively on windy days, even leading to cases of nausea akin to motion sickness.