Had to wear a suit and tie today. Socks too. A business friend invited me to a luncheon of active and retired chief executive officers at the University Club in Manhattan.
It was invigorating to once again schmooze with some of the corporate elite of capitalism and hear informal presentations from the founder and CEO of FreshDirect and a former Merrill Lynch executive who started a second career as a ski resort owner in Vermont. The 25 financially focused attendees included some star power, as well. Seated around the table were Wayne Rogers (“Trapper John” McIntyre to fans of the M*A*S*H TV series) and Edward F. Cox, chairman of the NY State Republican party and husband of Tricia Nixon. They’re both financial players in their own right, by the way.
Today’s trip to the Big Apple provided an opportunity to revisit my old office haunts. It was gratifying after nearly three years of retirement to be recognized by one of the security staff in the lobby and allowed entry without having to go through identification checks and a call upstairs for clearance.
The sixth floor office had been undergoing renovation as about two-thirds of the space was sublet to a real estate firm. The entrance from the elevators had been redone. As I rode upstairs I wondered what had replaced the Southwest motif of leather banquettes with brown, red and orange accents. When the doors parted I was startled by bright, laminated white on the floor and walls, as if transported into a set from Woody Allen’s Sleeper, or maybe part of the sales floor at Bloomingdale’s.
Catching up with former associates was fun. The visit was short, no time to commiserate over the state of publishing. Just enough time to show off pictures of Finley and hear about their children. The best type of visit.
When I went back downstairs to go to the luncheon, I detoured to say hello to the Indian newsstand operator who, despite my weekly entreaties, never sold me a winning lottery ticket. Alas, he no longer works there. Maybe he kept that winning ticket for himself.
Showing posts with label Tricia Nixon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tricia Nixon. Show all posts
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Bain of Our Existence
During my time editing and publishing a business magazine, I often remonstrated against the insidious effect of Wall Street on the retailing industry. The money vultures would swoop in on a merchant, demand representation on the board or some change in corporate strategy intended for short term gain. Often as not, the retailer put up a fight, though they many times paid a greenmail ransom to rid themselves of the unwanted attention.
Bain Capital was one of those companies that pursued chain retailers and restaurants, along with enterprises from other industries. Mitt Romney was a co-founder of Bain Capital. He made a ton of money investing in companies such as Staples, Domino Pizza, Sealy and Brookstone. A foundation of Romney’s presidential run is his business acumen, his experience managing companies, turning some around, creating jobs and helping the Salt Lake City Olympics be successful.
Yet all is not rainbows and hosannas in Mitt’s corporate portfolio. As is often the case, when an investment firm takes over a company with the intent of later selling it, staff is reduced and assets are sold off. Such was the case with Stage Stores, Dade Behring, Ampad and GS Industries. Though Bain sold them for a combined $578 million profit, thousands of workers lost their jobs at those companies, and, once sold, all wound up declaring bankruptcy.
Bottom line: As the campaign for the nomination gears up, expect other Republicans to target the job losses Romney’s company administered. Should he get the nomination, Obama’s attack on Mitt’s labor record will be even more strident.
Belated Wedding Gift: Today marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Listening to an NPR report and interview with Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon analyst who defied the government by secretly providing redacted texts to the NY Times, I was struck by a couple of points.
First, The Times published the history of our involvement in Vietnam on a Monday, one day after President Richard Nixon gloried in the marriage of his daughter, Tricia, to Edward Cox, at a White House ceremony. Not exactly the belated wedding gift he was anticipating.
Second, perhaps because he was still euphoric over the nuptials, Nixon was not aware of their publication when speaking to an aide Monday morning. The taped conversation (Nixon secretly recorded Oval Office exchanges) revealed Nixon was almost blasé about the exposure of government secrets. But he quickly changed his tune as the day wore on. He said the country couldn’t abide anyone making their own decision about what should or should not be made public.
His reaction to Ellsberg, it was noted, eventually led to his resignation. First he ordered a special unit called the Plumbers to sneak into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. That was followed by the decision to infiltrate and bug the office of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex. The unraveling of that botched break-in led to his impeachment and subsequent resignation in August 1974.
Short-Sighted: This week is the last time the New York State Regents examinations will be given for French, Spanish and Italian. Regents in Hebrew, German and Latin were cut last year. Eliminating the final proficiency tests will save about $700,000 a year.
In an increasingly global society, in a country where Spanish is rapidly becoming a language required for communication with today’s and tomorrow’s work force, are the savings really worth it? I think not.
55-Plus: Early baby boomers are among the hardest hit of the unemployed. They’re finding it most difficult latching onto a new job. It might not be outright age discrimination they are facing, but it sure smacks of it.
Many of those 55 and older are willing to take lower salaries than they pulled in before they were laid off. Even for those who have kept up their skills to compete with younger workers, prospects are dim.
Some 25 years ago I hired a veteran reporter. Bob was around 65 when he was let go by one of my competitors. I was cautioned against bringing him on. But Bob turned out to be a wonderful hire. He was loyal, working for at least 10 more years, much longer than younger writers generally stayed. Moreover, his experience gave him insight into retailing younger writers would barely have learned before taking wing.
Bob was an example for all within our company that a good attitude, coupled with experience and energy, is at least as important as youthful exuberance when evaluating a prospective employee.
Bain Capital was one of those companies that pursued chain retailers and restaurants, along with enterprises from other industries. Mitt Romney was a co-founder of Bain Capital. He made a ton of money investing in companies such as Staples, Domino Pizza, Sealy and Brookstone. A foundation of Romney’s presidential run is his business acumen, his experience managing companies, turning some around, creating jobs and helping the Salt Lake City Olympics be successful.
Yet all is not rainbows and hosannas in Mitt’s corporate portfolio. As is often the case, when an investment firm takes over a company with the intent of later selling it, staff is reduced and assets are sold off. Such was the case with Stage Stores, Dade Behring, Ampad and GS Industries. Though Bain sold them for a combined $578 million profit, thousands of workers lost their jobs at those companies, and, once sold, all wound up declaring bankruptcy.
Bottom line: As the campaign for the nomination gears up, expect other Republicans to target the job losses Romney’s company administered. Should he get the nomination, Obama’s attack on Mitt’s labor record will be even more strident.
Belated Wedding Gift: Today marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Listening to an NPR report and interview with Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon analyst who defied the government by secretly providing redacted texts to the NY Times, I was struck by a couple of points.
First, The Times published the history of our involvement in Vietnam on a Monday, one day after President Richard Nixon gloried in the marriage of his daughter, Tricia, to Edward Cox, at a White House ceremony. Not exactly the belated wedding gift he was anticipating.
Second, perhaps because he was still euphoric over the nuptials, Nixon was not aware of their publication when speaking to an aide Monday morning. The taped conversation (Nixon secretly recorded Oval Office exchanges) revealed Nixon was almost blasé about the exposure of government secrets. But he quickly changed his tune as the day wore on. He said the country couldn’t abide anyone making their own decision about what should or should not be made public.
His reaction to Ellsberg, it was noted, eventually led to his resignation. First he ordered a special unit called the Plumbers to sneak into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. That was followed by the decision to infiltrate and bug the office of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex. The unraveling of that botched break-in led to his impeachment and subsequent resignation in August 1974.
Short-Sighted: This week is the last time the New York State Regents examinations will be given for French, Spanish and Italian. Regents in Hebrew, German and Latin were cut last year. Eliminating the final proficiency tests will save about $700,000 a year.
In an increasingly global society, in a country where Spanish is rapidly becoming a language required for communication with today’s and tomorrow’s work force, are the savings really worth it? I think not.
55-Plus: Early baby boomers are among the hardest hit of the unemployed. They’re finding it most difficult latching onto a new job. It might not be outright age discrimination they are facing, but it sure smacks of it.
Many of those 55 and older are willing to take lower salaries than they pulled in before they were laid off. Even for those who have kept up their skills to compete with younger workers, prospects are dim.
Some 25 years ago I hired a veteran reporter. Bob was around 65 when he was let go by one of my competitors. I was cautioned against bringing him on. But Bob turned out to be a wonderful hire. He was loyal, working for at least 10 more years, much longer than younger writers generally stayed. Moreover, his experience gave him insight into retailing younger writers would barely have learned before taking wing.
Bob was an example for all within our company that a good attitude, coupled with experience and energy, is at least as important as youthful exuberance when evaluating a prospective employee.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
