Re: Billionaires, cheapskates and apologies
I’ve worked with a fair number of billionaires and with some hundreds-of-millionaires who were emotionally billionaires. Most have been very nice … There is, however a very particular type of billionaire …
1. The phone rang my second day on the job at Fortune. Howling on the other end of the line, threatening to call a TimeWarner board member to complain was a billionaire who wanted to be invited to an event. I looked up. The staffer who had just told him he wasn’t on the list was standing tearfully at my office door.
When he took a breath between howls, I introduced myself and told him I was the new guy, and nice to meet him. He snarled his name again. I asked him to explain the issue. He did. I told him I’d call him back. After talking to the staffer, I called the guy back. When I told him ‘fine no problem, we’d send him an invitation,’ he responded “I’ll check my schedule and see if I’m free. I assume I won’t have to pay the fee?” I explained I’d be happy to waive the fee … IF he apologized to my staffer. He declined.
2. A billionaire had wanted to be on-stage at a conference. He felt slighted that the editorial team had not included him. He sent a letter to someone, who passed it along to me to handle. The letter said he had a business opportunity to discuss, but felt we weren’t interested in his ideas given that we didn’t think he was smart enough to be on stage. I called him.
He was polite, sharing how hurt his feelings were, and how happy he was that someone in charge was calling him to apologize. I explained I was calling only to chat about the business idea. He invited me to come down and see him in his office. He’d have his assistant call mine.
Shortly after, my assistant stood in my doorway saying his assistant had called to schedule the meeting, but needed me to send an apology letter first. “For what?” His assistant had said I’d know why.
I wrote the following by hand for her to fax him as requested – “I’m a little confused. The length and sincerity of my apology is contingent on the size of the deal you’re offering to do. Please advise.” He called back, laughing. “Bring the letter. You can give it to me at the end if you like the idea. But it won’t go anywhere unless I have a note in my hand before you leave.”
3. I offered a billionaire to host 300 Fortune guests at his house in the town where we were holding an event, only if he wanted to. He emailed back immediately saying he wanted to and laying out a grand plan for what he wanted to do and what an amazing dinner he would throw for the group. I thanked him and we agreed to coordinate details later.
A bit later, I received a note explaining that his son was getting married the day before our dinner and saying he assumed I’d be happy to split the overall costs (yes, including some of his son’s wedding costs!) We didn’t.
4. After three years of declining to schedule an evening event at a billionaire’s house in a place where we held an annual event, I finally broke down and agreed. He threw a nice party. It was July. The following April, one of my staffers showed up in my office with an invoice. The billionaire said a drain pipe in the grassy area of his property was cracked, his gardener hadn’t noticed until the snow melt after winter and was certain it was from the party we held at his house. Mr. Billionaire wanted us to pay the few thousand dollars for the repair. We didn’t. He insisted on an apology. I suggested maybe his gardener could offer a more sincere apology.