The Obstinacy of Blogging In 2007 I got nailed for having a blog which was mostly about movies. I occasionally mentioned other personal issues, but never talked about life or work at Bear Stearns. At a fateful moment and for reasons which were more than a little suspicious, the New York Times sent a 23-year-old Barnard graduate to write a story about my blog. This was in the era of the CEO of Whole Foods…
The White Horse Tavern I have an interesting relationship with lunch. Ever since I was a kid, I liked lunch above all other meals. When I was in grade school and I had won eight full weeks of summer YMCA day camp (by selling chocolate mints far and wide), we were supposed to bring a bag lunch. My problem was that my graduate student single mother did not have much time for mothering and making…
The Treehouse in 1989 when I was reassigned to Toronto as punishment for a lapse of business judgement, I had gone through a divorce and wanted a home base. I looked for a house within an hour of where the kids lived and that meant either in the City or out in the Hamptons. Ah yes, the famous Hamptons, playground to the rich and famous of Manhattan and the share-house capital of the east coast.…
The Art of the Option Back in 1982 I was in an unusual position. All of my peers at my bank aspired to be line division managers. That was the traditional path to glory and was the first really important middle-management job tier. I had been jammed up with all my peers as a team leader of an important group of clients. I had two junior bankers working for me and a stable of big…
Stone Cold Panic Pete sat in his office and stared at his cup of ice and his bottle of flavored water. The brand was Poland Spring. Most people know nothing about Poland Spring and probably don’t even realize it’s a real place. Pete knew all about Poland Spring. He had lived there for three years back in the 1960’s. Poland Spring was a symbol of the transformation of life to Pete and it all scared…
Alone in the Vastness On a trip to Latin America, I bought a painting by a well known Argentine artist named Rikelme. We were hosting a client reception in Punta del Este on the gold coast of Uruguay, where the rich and famous play in January. Rikelme seems to specialize in painting landscapes that emphasizing trees. I’m a big tree fan when it comes to art. One of my other favorite artists is David Smith…
Digging Archeology John was perfectly happy living in Turrialba. He was five years old and where he lived was inconsequential to his daily activities and state of mind. He had lived his whole life, except a year in Santa Monica, in and around the equator. As a kid, he just made the best of whatever his circumstances. Perhaps if he had known that Turrialba was a remote and unknown tropical valley, two hours due east…
Chasing Wealth Twenty-five years ago, I was in my second career at the same bank. I had spent fifteen years rising like a meteor at Bankers Trust, a white-shoe bank of the old order (positioned originally at 16 Wall Street at the famous corner of Broad and Wall across from the NYSE, Federal Hall and JP Morgan). Lately the bank had become a renegade, exiting the retail banking business and focusing on “Merchant Banking”. It…
Going to the Dentist No one likes going to the dentist. I doubt even dentists like going to the dentist. Like many things in life, some things you do in order to prevent the horrible. It’s like Woody Allen’s old definition that life is divided into the horrible and the miserable and you should feel lucky if you were just miserable. Going to the dentist is miserable. Not going to the dentist will end up…
The Top of the Hill I went to Cornell for two degrees. My mother went to Cornell. All three of my kids went to Cornell. I was on the faculty for ten years at Cornell. I have a home just off the Cornell golf course. I have served on countless Cornell committees over the years. My charitable contributions to Cornell rank number one in my gift-giving. Many of my oldest friends are from Cornell. I…