A Few Easy Payments

With a plastic smile and the mesmerizing energy of a vaudevillian, Ron Popeil has spent four decades hawking Pocket Fishermen and Veg-O-Matics, demonstrating Inside-The-Shell Electric Egg Scramblers and cutting metal cans with kitchen knives. But Popeil may have made his best sale two years ago, when investors paid $55 million for his company, Ronco. Last month the company was auctioned via bankruptcy court to a lone bidder for $6.5 million. Popeil said he wanted to spend time with his young daughters and arranged to sell his company. Ronco's new owners continue to sell the cutlery sets and rotisseries, and old Ron Popeil infomercials can still be caught on the odd cable channel.