[Drew]

Yes, it was in John's 1996 ARC article that he wrote "Bel Geddes signed a very lucrative five year contract with Philco providing far an annual retainer of $25,000 plus costs not to exceed $49,000 a year."
That seems like a lot of money for the design of radio cabinets, $49,000 in 1931 is the equevalent of over $400,000 in 2006 dollars. Maybe Philco decided it was too costly to work with Bel Geddes, after all, 1931 was the worst year of the depression. I've also read the he was very demanding and was known to have conflict with clients over details, and in the end wanted the product the way he wanted it.