It's Not Luck Read Online Free PDF

in his face. I loved it.”
    “I never thought that Hilton was a real candidate for becoming the next CEO,” I say. “You are senior and you have a better track record.”
    He slaps me on the back, “A lot of my track record I owe to you, Alex. But no, I don’t fool myself. I’m not the CEO type. And after that board meeting, I don’t stand a chance.”
    “What do you mean,” I ask, puzzled.
    “You know; the decision to sell your companies. I was heavily involved in purchasing them, a lot of the blame will be thrown on me. At least enough to guarantee that I won’t be nominated.”
    Now I am totally baffled. “Why are my companies such political poison? They are not bottomless pits anymore. Last year they even produced some money.”
    “Alex,” Bill smiles, “have you checked how much we paid for these companies?”
    “No,” I admit. “But how much could we have paid for them?”
    “A bloody fortune. Granby was so hot to diversify, and remember we bought them in eighty-nine, when everyone expected a market up-turn—and you know what happened. Rather than going up, the market took a nosedive. I estimate that we paid at least twice what we can hope to get for them now. Alex, everyone involved in these purchases will catch some flack.”
    “Wait a minute, Bill,” I say. “As long as we don’t sell the companies, they appear on our books at their purchase value. But the minute that we sell them, we have to write off the entire difference. Maybe Trumann and Doughty haven’t paid attention to this?”
    “Don’t fool yourself,” he beams. “They pay attention to any number that is preceded by a dollar sign. They know exactly what they are doing. They will take the bite this year, they will improve the cash position of the company, and then next year—when they bring in some known hotshot as the new CEO—the shares will jump.”
    I have to think about it, but one thing I can’t figure out. “Why are you so happy about it?” I ask aloud.
    “Because now I can relax.” Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he continues. “Alex, I knew all along I wasn’t going to be the next CEO, but I was terrified that Hilton would be. If there is someone I really don’t want to work for, it’s Hilton. Any outsider is better. Now, because of his last maneuver, he’s lost Granby’s support and he definitely didn’t win Trumann’s or Doughty’s. He is doomed.”
    The minute I return to my office, I ask Don to get me information about the purchases of our companies. We both analyze it. The situation is much worse than Bill said.
    According to what we estimate, Pete’s company can be sold for a maximum of $20 million. It was purchased for $51.4 million. Stacey Kaufman’s company, Pressure-Steam, can currently be sold for no more than $30 million. We paid almost $80 million.
    The worst of all is Bob Donovan’s company, I Cosmetics. Bearing in mind that even today it is slightly in the red, and taking an optimistic view of their assets, I don’t believe that we can sell it for more than $30 million. We paid $124 million. Yes, $124 million.
    Now I understand why Granby wants the sales while he is still in control. He personally initiated and authorized the purchases. Almost $255 million. Not to mention the other $30 million or so thrown in since. For all this investment, since the purchases, we have accumulated total additional losses of $86 million. And now, for all this money, the maximum we are going to get back is only about $80 million. Talk about bad decisions!
    “You see, Don,” I say to him, “that’s what happens when you read the market trend wrongly. Now I understand why everybody, including J. Bartholomew Granby III, is running for shelter. There is enough mud here to drown an elephant.”
    “What will happen to us?”
    “Don’t worry, Don. If push comes to shove, I’ll have no trouble finding you a good position. No problem at all. But let’s put our worries aside. We have something else to