William P. Tavoulareas, Peter Tavoulareas v. Philip Piro. William P. Tavoulareas, Peter Tavoulareas v. The Washington Post Company, D/B/A the Washington Post, a Delaware Corporation

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge STARR and Senior Circuit Judge J. SKELLY WRIGHT.

Opinion concurring in the judgment filed by Chief Judge WALD.

Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge RUTH BADER GINSBURG.

Dissenting opinion filed by Senior Circuit Judge MacKINNON.

STARR, Circuit Judge and J. SKELLY WRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge:

William Tavoulareas and his son Peter brought suit for injury to reputation after The Washington Post published a story that said, among other things, that Tavoulareas had used his influence as president of Mobil Corporation to "set up" Peter as a partner in a shipping firm whose business included a multi-million dollar management services contract with Mobil. After a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Oliver Gasch awarded judgment notwithstanding the verdict to the Post defendants. 567 F.Supp. 651 (D.D.C.1983). A divided panel of this court reinstated the jury's verdict, 759 F.2d 90 (D.C.Cir.1985), but the full court vacated that portion of the panel opinion and set the case for rehearing en banc, 763 F.2d 1472, 1481 (D.C.Cir.1985).

After a careful review of the entire record in the light most favorable to plaintiff, we are convinced that the only reasonable inference to be drawn is that the "set up" allegation was substantially true. We further hold that Tavoulareas is a limited purpose public figure who can recover for defamation only upon clear and convincing proof that defendants acted with actual malice. Because insufficient evidence exists in the record to support a finding of constitutional malice with respect to any of the defendants, we affirm entirely the District Court's decision.

At trial, the parties presented conflicting evidence concerning Mobil's and Tavoulareas' involvement with Peter's shipping firm. The following account adopts the undisputed facts and Tavoulareas' version of disputed events.

William Tavoulareas was at all relevant times president and chief operating officer of Mobil Corporation, the Nation's second largest oil company and its third largest industrial corporation. In his position at Mobil, Tavoulareas took an active role in the public debate during the 1970's over the manner in which the United States should respond to the rise of OPEC and the ensuing energy crisis. In particular, Tavoulareas vigorously defended the performance of the oil industry against critics who called for sweeping reforms in the structure and management of the industry, and he publicly advocated less governmental regulation of the industry as the solution to the energy shortage. In addition, he was an important proponent of Mobil's "Saudi strategy" of dependence on Arab oil supplies at a time when increasing American energy independence became a significant public policy objective.

In 1973, a group of influential Saudis approached Mobil with a plan for a jointly owned shipping company. The group included the Alirezas, a prominent merchant family in Saudi Arabia that had other business relationships with Mobil.1 The plan called for Mobil to furnish the capital for the proposed company, which would transport Saudi crude in its ships. At that time, it was widely anticipated that Saudi Arabia would soon establish a preference system requiring that Saudi crude be shipped in Saudi vessels. If Mobil, which depended heavily on Saudi supplies, were forced to use Saudi-owned ships, much of Mobil's own large fleet would then be idled. Mobil initially rejected the offer, whereupon the Saudis found another partner, Fairfield-Maxwell. The resulting venture was called Samarco--the Saudi Maritime Company. Mobil reassesed its situation in early 1974, reversed its field, and decided to join the Saudi venture.

Under the Samarco arrangement, ships owned by Mobil would be "bareboat-chartered" to Samarco--that is, leased without crews or provisions. Samarco would then "time-charter" the ships back to Mobil with full crews, supplies, and fuel.

Mobil decided that Samarco's ships should be operated by an independent management company, Atlas Maritime Company. Mobil believed that Atlas could operate the ships at less cost than Mobil2 and that this arrangement would avoid a conflict of interest among the Samarco partners.

Atlas was established by George Comnas in 1974. Comnas met with Tavoulareas in January 1974 and explained that he had just started his own business after leaving his position as managing director of C.M. Lemos & Co., one of the largest Greek shipping concerns. One of Comnas' assistants at Lemos was Tavoluareas' son Peter. Peter, 24 and fresh from business school, was working at his first job in the shipping business as a $14,000 per year employee.3 Comnas informed Tavoulareas at the January meeting that he, Comnas, wanted Peter to join his new venture as a principal and that Comnas would like to explore the possibility of doing business with Mobil. Tavoulareas then informed Rawleigh Warner, chairman of Mobil's board of directors, and George Birrell, chairman of Mobil's Conflicts of Interest Committee, that Peter might join Comnas in performing services for Samarco. Soon thereafter, sometime in the spring of 1974, Tavoulareas personally recruited Comnas to manage Samarco's ships through Atlas.

In August 1974, Peter left Lemos to become an equity partner at Atlas. Ares Emmanuel, a more experienced but similarly youthful co-worker from Lemos, had also joined Atlas but was provided with a much smaller equity interest in the firm.4 When Peter joined Atlas, Tavoulareas sent a memorandum to Paul Wolfe, executive vice-president of Mobil, stating that he "would no longer be involved with anything as to Atlas and Samarco." Record Excepts (RE) at 2440; see RE at 2339. Mobil later told the Post that "[f]rom the date Peter Tavoulareas joined Atlas, Mr. Tavoulareas divorced himself from involvement in matters involving business transactions between Mobil and/or SAMARCO with Atlas" and that "[t]his is what Mr. Warner reported to [Mobil's] Board." RE at 2344.5 The undisputed record, however, reveals that Tavoulareas involved himself in Samarco-Atlas matters on numerous occasions after Peter joined Atlas. For example, at trial Tavoulareas admitted that he attended and participated in meetings in Geneva in August 1974 and Saudi Arabia in November 1974 at which substantive discussions took place that helped produce the final agreement between Atlas and Samarco. Tavoulareas conceded that in these meetings he was "representing George Comnas' [and hence Peter's] position," Transcript (Tr.) at 1712, urging the Saudis to accept terms sought by Atlas.

As its inaugural project, Atlas began operating two Mobil-owned ships under contract with Samarco at an annual fee of more than $600,000, with the prospect of additional ships in the future. No other bids were solicited or received for the ship-management contract. By the time the Post published its story, Atlas had received more than $4.5 million in management fees from Samarco.

Shortly after Atlas began operations, Mobil grew disenchanted with Comnas, although there is disagreement among Tavoulareas' witnesses about whether the dissatisfaction arose from Comnas' business performance or some alleged misconduct on his part. What is undisputed is that Tavoulareas participated in a meeting, held in Tavoulareas' office, at which senior Mobil executives decided to seek Comnas' removal from Atlas. It is also undisputed that Tavoulareas and two other Mobil shipping executives flew to London to notify Comnas of this decision. Comnas was offered and accepted a $30,000 a year, three-year consultancy arrangement with Mobil in return for his resignation from Atlas.

When notified by Mobil of Comnas' resignation, the Saudi partners in Samarco, who had never been enthusiastic about using an independent management company, expressed promptly their view that the Samarco-Atlas management contract was terminated. Tavoulareas personally urged the Samarco partners to retain Atlas and successfully resisted the Saudi partners' attempts to take over some of the departed Comnas' equity interest. Most of that equity soon went to Peter.

After Comnas resigned, Atlas was left without an experienced hand at the helm. Harmon Hoffmann, a senior and highly respected Mobil executive, took over management of Atlas for the next six months, assisting Peter and the latter's fellow Lemos alumnus, Ares Emmanuel. Peter, whose share of Atlas increased from 40 to 75 percent in the wake of Comnas' departure, then assumed the management duties along with Emmanuel at what had become Peter's shipping firm.6

In November 1976, more than two years after Peter joined Atlas and over a year after Peter became its principal owner, Tavoulareas and Warner decided to send a letter to Mobil's quarter-million stockholders informing them that Tavoulareas had not been "actively involved in the planning, negotiation and direction" of Atlas and did "not participate in any decisions regarding the [Samarco-Atlas] relationship because his son, Peter, [was] one of the principals of that marine management firm." RE at 2650. Although Tavoulareas had formally recused himself from such matters, several of Mobil's outside directors raised objections to Peter's involvement in Atlas. Tavoulareas' potential conflict of interest also attracted the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which conducted an investigation into the Mobil-Samarco-Atlas arrangements but took no enforcement action. The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power and several well-known journalists also investigated the matter.

On November 30, 1979, the Post published a frontpage story stating that

Mobil Oil Corp. president William P. Tavoulareas set up his son five years ago as a partner in a London-based shipping management firm that has since done millions of dollars in business operating Mobil-owned ships under exclusive, no-bid contracts.

The story, which is set forth in full in the Appendix, went on for eighty-five paragraphs to describe the Mobil-Samarco-Atlas arrangements in detail. The article stated, among other things, that Mobil's board of directors had been assured that Tavoulareas "was not involved in his son's venture in any way," but that unidentified sources said that Tavoulareas had nonetheless (1) recruited the shipping executive who set up Atlas; (2) helped negotiate the Samarco-Atlas contract; (3) "personally urged" Comnas to accept Peter as a partner; (4) "played a personal role" in Comnas' resignation; and (5) "dispatched one of his senior shipping executives, Herman [sic] F. Hoffmann, to London to help run Atlas" after Comnas' departure. At key points, the story quoted Tavoulareas' own account of the incidents and included his denials of disputed assertions; in all, more than thirty paragraphs of the article reported Mobil's version of the events in question.

The Post first became aware of the connection between Atlas and Mobil in 1976 when reporter Robert Woodward received an anonymous note describing the Samarco arrangement. Woodward made some preliminary inquiries, but for a variety of reasons put the matter aside. In 1979, during a period of rising fuel prices, gasoline lines, and increased interest in the Nation's energy situation, Woodward, by then metropolitan editor of the Post, revived the Atlas matter. He assigned it to Patrick Tyler, a relatively new reporter on the metropolitan staff who had written a few months earlier about the oil shortage (and in a manner which prompted Mobil's disapprobation).

A short time later, Sandy Golden, a reporter for a suburban newspaper who was ambitious for a job on the Post, telephoned Woodward to offer a lead he hoped to develop into a story about how the president of Mobil set up his son to be an "overnight millionaire." Upon returning Golden's call on Woodward's behalf, Tyler learned that Golden had encountered Dr. Philip Piro, a young Johns Hopkins physician and estranged son-in-law of Tavoulareas, and that Piro had offered to discuss Tavoulareas' involvement with Peter's rise in the business world. Tyler and Golden met with Piro at The Owl restaurant in Baltimore and interviewed him for several hours. Tyler concluded that Piro had little direct knowledge of Mobil's business affairs, and that he obviously harbored a grudge against the Tavoulareas family. In view of Piro's perceived limited value as a source, Tyler informed Golden that he would continue to pursue the story on his own; Golden said he would do likewise.7

Tyler's research led him to George Comnas, who told the reporter that Tavoulareas recruited him to help establish Samarco and Atlas. Comnas also stated that Tavoulareas requested him to bring Peter into Atlas. Comnas described the Samarco-Atlas arrangements in detail and discussed Tavoulareas' role in persuading the Saudi partners to accept Atlas as Samarco's management company. Tavoulareas, according to Comnas, personally asked him to resign from Atlas. Following his own interviews, Tyler learned that Comnas had related substantially the same account to investigators from the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, who had questioned Comnas in detail and concluded that his story was accurate.

Tyler also interviewed John Kousi, a New York lawyer who served as Fairfield-Maxwell's representative on the Samarco board of directors. Kousi told Tyler that Peter had limited experience and ability, and that, in Kousi's opinion, Peter's partnership in Atlas was "a nepotistic act" on the part of Tavoulareas. Kousi also said that Tavoulareas personally negotiated on Atlas' behalf to obtain the agreement of Samarco's Saudi partners to the Atlas arrangement. Kousi further stated that Mobil was the moving force in both hiring and firing Comnas.

In preparing the article, Tyler sought repeatedly but unsuccessfully to interview Tavoulareas and other Mobil officials. At trial, Mobil officials explained the company's refusal to cooperate with Tyler on the ground that in his story earlier in 1979 Tyler had misrepresented statements by Mobil executives. Eventually, however, at Woodward's urging, Mobil agreed to answer written questions from Tyler. Those answers confirmed the basic outlines of the Samarco arrangement. The responses further stated that, although Mobil's Board of Directors was told that "Tavoulareas divorced himself from involvement in matters involving business transactions between Mobil and/or SAMARCO with Atlas," he had in fact been involved in hiring Comnas and played what Mobil called "a minor role" in firing him. RE at 2344-45. Moreover, Mobil confirmed that Tavoulareas had participated in setting up Atlas as an independent management firm, but stated that he had not initiated Peter's association with Atlas.

Tyler also obtained a transcript of Tavoulareas' sworn testimony before the SEC's Enforcement Division in 1977. In that testimony, Tavoulareas acknowledged his key role in the creation of Atlas. He admitted that he knew that Comnas and Peter had discussed going into business together when he, Tavoulareas, recruited Comnas. This transcript, together with the interviews of Comnas and Kousi, the report of the Congressional investigators, and the written responses from Mobil, comprised the Post's principal sources for its story of November 30, 1979.

Tyler spent one month working on the story, tracking down leads, confirming information, and writing the final article. The story underwent scrutiny from senior editors, including Woodward and national news editor William Greider. The editors questioned Tyler about his sources. Counsel for the Post conducted a line-by-line review. Managing editor Howard Simons and executive editor Benjamin Bradlee examined the story before it was cleared for publication. When a copy editor, Christine Peterson, raised questions about the story, Tyler responded with a detailed memorandum that satisfied the Post's editors that the story was accurate. The Post vigorously contends to this day that it published the story in the belief that it was truthful; at oral argument on rehearing en banc, the Post reaffirmed its continued belief in the story's accuracy.

William and Peter Tavoulareas brought libel actions against the Washington Post Company, Benjamin Bradlee, Robert Woodward, Patrick Tyler, and Sandy Golden.8 Plaintiffs claimed they were falsely defamed both by the November 30 article and by a follow-up Post story on December 1. The suit against the Post was consolidated with a separately filed action brought against Dr. Piro for slander. The District Court subsequently determined that William Tavoulareas was a limited public figure for purposes for the case but that Peter was not. RE at 696-97, 709-29.

On July 30, 1982, a jury found that Bradlee and Woodward were not liable to either of the plaintiffs and that the Post, Tyler, and Golden were not liable to William Tavoulareas for the December 1 article and not liable to Peter for either article. The jury did, however, return a general verdict against the Post, Tyler, and Golden for the November 30 article, awarding William Tavoulareas $250,000 in compensatory and $1.8 million in punitive damages. The jury also found Piro liable to both Tavoulareases for slander.

The District Court subsequently entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict (j.n.o.v.) for Piro and for the Post defendants against William Tavoulareas. Appeals were then brought to this court challenging the judgments n.o.v. and attacking the trial court's determination that William Tavoulareas was a limited public figure.

In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964), the Supreme Court first recognized that traditional actions for defamation might interfere with First Amendment rights of free expression. Discerning in the First Amendment a demand that writers and speakers enjoy enough "breathing space" to avoid self-censorship and encourage "debate on public issues [that is] uninhibited, robust, and wide open," id. at 270, 84 S.Ct. at 721, the Court held that a public official could recover damages for libel only by showing that the allegedly defamatory statement was made with " 'actual malice'--that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Id. at 279-80, 84 S.Ct. at 726. In Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 87 S.Ct. 1975, 18 L.Ed.2d 1094 (1967), this constitutional protection was applied to speech concerning "public figures" who were not government officials, but who nonetheless "often play an influential role in ordering society." Id. at 164, 87 S.Ct. at 1996 (Warren, C.J., concurring). But in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974), the Court declined to extend the actual malice rule to speech about private individuals.

Gertz held that the extent of the constitutional privilege varies with the strength of the government's legitimate interest in protecting individual reputation. This interest is strongest when the state protects private citizens whose actions reflect a decision to shield their lives from public scrutiny. Such persons are typically "more vulnerable to injury than public officials and public figures [and] more deserving of recovery." Id. at 345, 94 S.Ct. at 3010. The state's interest is correspondingly weaker with respect to government officials and others who "assume[ ] [a] role of especial prominence in the affairs of society ... [that] invite[s] attention and comment." Id. This is true partly because public figures "usually enjoy significantly greater access to the channels of effective communication and hence have a more realistic opportunity to counteract false statements than private individuals normally enjoy." Id. at 344, 94 S.Ct. at 3009. More important, "by reason of the notoriety of their achievements or the vigor and success with which they seek the public's attention," id at 342, 94 S.Ct. at 3008, public figures voluntarily "run[ ] the risk of closer public scrutiny than might otherwise be the case." Id. at 344, 94 S.Ct. at 3009. Moreover, "[o]ur citizenry has a legitimate and substantial interest in the conduct of such persons, and freedom of the press to engage in uninhibited debate about their involvement in public issues and events is as crucial as it is in the case of 'public officials.' " Butts, 388 U.S. at 164, 87 S.Ct. at 1996. (Warren, C.J., concurring).

The Supreme Court has identified two classes of public figures in addition to government officials: general purpose and limited purpose public figures. "In some instances, an individual may achieve such pervasive fame or notoriety that he becomes a public figure for all purposes and in all contexts. More commonly, an individual voluntarily injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy and thereby becomes a public figure for a limited range of issues." Gertz, 418 U.S. at 351, 94 S.Ct. at 3013. The extent of the individual's participation in public affairs and assumption of the risk of adverse publicity determines the weight of the government's interest in protecting his or her reputation.

Whether (and to what extent) a person is a public figure is a matter of law for the court to decide. Rosenblatt v. Baer, 383 U.S. 75, 88, 86 S.Ct. 669, 677, 15 L.Ed.2d 597 (1966); Waldbaum v. Fairchild Publications, Inc., 627 F.2d 1287, 1293 n. 12 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 898, 101 S.Ct. 266, 66 L.Ed.2d 128 (1980). This is a difficult and sensitive exercise unsusceptible to the application of rigid or mechanical rules. See, e.g., Rosanova v. Playboy Enterprises, Inc., 411 F.Supp. 440, 443 (S.D.Ga.1976) ("Defining public figures is much like trying to nail a jellyfish to the wall."), aff'd, 580 F.2d 859 (5th Cir.1978). In this circuit, our determination is guided by Waldbaum.

A person becomes a general purpose public figure only if he or she is "a well-known 'celebrity,' his name a 'household word.' " Waldbaum, 627 F.2d at 1294. Such persons have knowingly relinquished their anonymity in return for fame, fortune, or influence. They are frequently so famous that they "may be able to transfer their recognition and influence from one field to another." Id. at 1294 n. 15. Thus, it is reasonable to attribute a public character to all aspects of their lives. William Tavoulareas is a highly prominent individual, especially in business circles, but his celebrity in society at large does not approach that of a well-known athlete or entertainer--apparently the archetypes of the general purpose public figure. See, e.g., [Johnny] Carson v. Allied News Co., 529 F.2d 206 (7th Cir.1976); Chuy v. Philadelphia Eagles Football Club, 431 F.Supp. 254 (D.C.Pa.1977), aff'd, 595 F.2d 1265 (3d Cir.1979) (en banc). The standard as generally applied is a strict one; the Supreme Court has not found anyone to be a general public figure since Butts. In view of the stringent standards applicable to this category of public figure, we have no difficulty in upholding the District Court's conclusion that the plaintiff was not a general purpose public figure.

Although few persons attain the level of notoriety to be public figures in all contexts, many individuals may be public figures for the more limited purpose of certain issues or situations. Waldbaum sets out a three-step inquiry to identify these limited-purpose public figures. First, we isolate the controversy at issue, because the scope of the controversy in which the plaintiff involves himself defines the scope of the public personality. The controversy must be public both in the sense that "persons actually were discussing" it, 627 F.2d at 1297, and that "persons beyond the immediate participants in the dispute [are likely] to feel the impact of its resolution." Id. Second, we examine the plaintiff's role in the controversy, to be sure that it is more than "trivial or tangential." Id. An individual does not forfeit the full protection of the libel laws merely by stating a position on a controversial issue if he or she is not a principal participant in the debate or is unlikely to have much effect on its resolution. See Gertz, 418 U.S. at 351-52, 94 S.Ct. at 3012-13. Finally, we determine if the alleged defamation was germane to the plaintiff's participation in the controversy. Waldbaum, 627 F.2d at 1298.

The Waldbaum inquiry provides a uniform approach to identifying those individuals whose voluntary participation in public life and whose access to the media have reduced the state's interest in protecting them from the risk of defamation. Waldbaum thus provides us with useful analytic tools; nevertheless, the touchstone remains whether an individual has "assumed [a] role[ ] of especial prominence in the affairs of society ... [that] invite[s] attention and comment." Gertz, 418 U.S. at 345, 94 S.Ct. at 3009.

Applying these principles to the case at hand, we first consider the possibility that Tavoulareas was a limited public figure for the purpose of the controversy over whether the management and structure of the United States' private oil industry was in need of alteration or reform. Examining the oil shortages of the 1970's, numerous public officials, pundits, and commentators criticized both the performance and integrity of the major, integrated oil companies. Many reform proposals were publicly advanced and considered, including measures to break up or divest the large oil companies, increase their taxes, install government representatives on their boards of directors, and subject them to more intensive federal regulation.

We have held in Waldbaum that "[b]eing an executive within a prominent and influential company does not by itself make one a [limited purpose] public figure." 627 F.2d at 1299. We reaffirm that principle today. But that is not to say that an individual's position as president and chief operating officer of one of the world's largest multinational corporations, with a quarter-million stockholders, is irrelevant to whether that person has "invite[d] attention and comment" with respect to public issues affecting his business dealings. This is especially true when that industry--and the company itself--is at the center of a vigorous public debate touching on a vital national interest.

More specifically, Tavoulareas avowedly attempted to "thrust [Mobil and himself] to the forefront" of the national controversy over the state of the oil industry. In November 1979, for example, Tavoulareas made the following telling observations in a speech:

As you know, Mobil has gotten the reputation of being probably the most outspoken company on public issues, through our newspaper advocacy advertising and other public statements. It's not always comfortable being in the limelight, particularly when the President of the U.S. calls us perhaps the most irresponsible company in the country. But we think the effort has been worth making and we're going to go on with it. We see positive results in the press and in our meetings with elected officials.

RE at 302; cf. RE at 470. Even more than Eric Waldbaum (whom this court, speaking through Judge Tamm, found to be a limited public figure with respect to his business dealings), Tavoulareas was not "merely a boardroom president whose vision was limited to the balance sheet. He became an activist, projecting his own image and that of [Mobil] far beyond the dollars and cents aspects of marketing." 627 F.2d at 1300.

Mobil and Tavoulareas played substantial roles in spearheading a public counterattack on the movement for reform of the oil industry. The 500-page "Public Figure Index"--a collection of news clippings and the like, submitted by the Post--attests to the undisputed fact that Tavoulareas was outspoken in defending the oil industry's performance, see, e.g., RE at 455, in blaming the oil crisis on government regulation and interference with the free market, and in advocating rejection of efforts to further regulate or alter the oil industry. He made speeches, testified before Congress, RE at 304-67, published articles, RE at 378-97, and through Mobil's publicity apparatus enjoyed continuing access to the media, RE at 419-63. Even more than his counterparts in the industry, Tavoulareas sought and received public attention on the management and operations of the Nation's oil companies.9 Having "stepp[ed] into the public spotlight ... he must take the good with the bad." Waldbaum, 627 F.2d at 1294-95.

Public policy toward the oil industry was clearly a controversial subject that "was being debated publicly and ... had foreseeable and substantial ramifications for non-participants." Id. at 1297. Although only a "few [participants] can have the necessary impact," id. at 1297 n. 27, on such a broadly-defined controversy, Tavoulareas' widely-reported, influential public role in the debate as president of Mobil eminently qualified him as a public figure.

Waldbaum 's final requirement, namely germaneness of the publication to the controversy, was also satisfied by the Post article. The story of Mobil's president and his junior-executive son, who achieved great business success early in life, sought to provide the public with "a rare glimpse into corporate behavior at the top of one of the largest publicly held international oil companies." p 12. The alleged nepotism by Tavoulareas was not "wholly unrelated" to a public controversy where the credibility and integrity of representatives of the oil industry had become an issue. 627 F.2d at 1298; see, e.g., RE at 570. In our view, the Waldbaum criteria are abundantly satisfied here.

In addition, Judge Gasch found Tavoulareas to be a public figure for purposes of a more narrowly defined controversy concerning the Mobil-Samarco-Atlas arrangement. Tavoulareas acknowledges that the Post article was germane to that arrangement, but disputes whether it was a "public" controversy within the meaning of Gertz, Waldbaum, and Firestone.10 Like the District Court, we conclude that it was.

The involvement of Mobil, Tavoulareas, and Peter in the Samarco-Atlas arrangement attracted the attention of journalists and government officials long before the November 30, 1979 article appeared. Mobil publicly announced the Samarco-Atlas deal in 1974, albeit without mentioning Peter's involvement. RE at 629. After consultation with Tavoulareas, Mobil officials subsequently decided to publicize Peter's involvement in the arrangement by releasing the information to a "widely read oil industry periodical." Tr. at 1880-81. Thereafter, a number of j