American Broadcasting Company which were related to advertising and were indexed compared to the number of listeners/viewers, failed to compensate for its heavy investments in purchasing and building stations. In 1951, a rumor even mentioned that the network would be sold to CBS. In 1951, Noble held a 58% ownership stake in ABC, giving him $5 million with which to prevent ABC from going bankrupt; as banks refused further credit, that amount was obtained through a loan from the Prudential Insurance Company of America. Leonard Goldenson, the president of UPT (which sought to diversify itself at the time), approached Noble in 1951 on
Edward J. Noble Savers as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. Since the mints looked like miniature life preservers, he called them Life Savers. After registering the trademark, Noble bought the rights to the peppermint candy for $2,900. Instead of using cardboard rolls, which were not very successful, he created tin-foil wrappers to keep the mints fresh. Pep-O-Mint was the first Life Savers flavor. Noble was the first chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Authority. He also served as Undersecretary of Commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1939-1940. Following the Federal Communications Commission's order that RCA divest itself of one