Those who did know Zemurray—the veterans of Cuyamel, the roughnecks and banana cowboys—believed the company finally had the right leadership. Many of them also believed it would not matter. When Zemurray took over, United Fruit was plagued by inefficiency, debt, angry workers, low morale. The stock had collapsed. The company was failing. Zemurray might be the best man, but it seemed he’d arrived too late.
