What would the late, great business titans of the 20th century have to say about the gutting of the American manufacturing sector or China’s threat to call in U.S trade debts?
These are just a few of the questions likely to be raised this evening when former White House economic policy advisor and author Todd G. Buchholz talks about his new book, “New Ideas from Dead CEOs,” at the 13th annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive. Buchholz opens the fair at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Nov. 1.
Buchholz, who also manages the $15-billion Tiger Hedge Fund and is a frequent financial commentator on ABC, CNN and CNBC, has written a book about the professional and personal lives of some of the great corporate leaders in recent history, among them the founders of Sony, Dell, Costco and Time Warner. And as readers might expect, it’s not all wine and roses.
“I talk about Ray Kroc of McDonald’s, but I also talk about Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, which is a contemporary issue,” Buchholz said. “Krispy Kreme is in desperate shape because they didn’t learn the lessons of Ray Kroc. I talk about David Sarnoff at RCA, and I relate Sarnoff to the problems that (European) Airbus is having. So the inside point is not just to talk about it in the context of how they lived their lives but to give the history, the sweeping social change, but then to say, ‘OK, what does it mean for us today trying to do business?’ And trying to advance the fabric of our lives.”
Those who attend Buchholz’s lecture will also hear stories of risk and derring-do committed by Walt Disney, cosmetics empire founder Estee Lauder, Sony Electronics’ Akio Morita, Thomas Watson Jr. and Sr. of IBM, who disagreed over whether to focus their company’s energy on computing; A.P. Giannini of Bank of America and Sam Walton, the pioneer of small-town, discount, self-service retailing.
Buchholz said the concept of “New Ideas from Dead CEOs” is to “tell the stories of these individuals and the obstacles they overcame, but then apply their lessons to our business lives today.”
He has written other successful books, including several used as texts in universities worldwide, such as “From Here to Economy” and “Market Shock: 9 Economic and Social Upheavals That Will Shake Our Financial Future,” which the Wall Street Journal called “outstanding.”
So what school of philosophy does the former White House economic advisor and graduate of Cambridge and Harvard subscribe to personally? Is he more of a Keynesian, Galbraithian, Friedmanite or Laffer-man (as in the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, who influenced President Franklin Roosevelt; John Kenneth Galbraith, who advised FDR and Presidents Truman, Kennedy and Johnson; or Milton Friedman and Arthur Laffer, both of whom were advisors to President Reagan)?
“I’m more of a Friedman man,” Buchholz said, “although I’m not a pure libertarian. But either was Friedman, really. Friedman actually helped with my ideas when I was writing as a graduate student. One of the things that I mentioned in the dead economists book was that not only was he extraordinarily accomplished, you know, (together) with John Maynard Keynes “” the two (were the) most accomplished economists of the century. But he was really generous with his time, whether you agreed with him or not.
“And so, my views tend to be more free market-oriented, but not purely libertarian in a strict libertarian sense.”
The Nobel laureate in economics even found time to publicly compliment his writings, Buchholz said.
“Friedman was a very busy man, yet he gave me a wonderful review, calling it an accurate, sweeping view of the history of economics,” Buchholz said. “You know, he was quite kind.”
It was barely five months ago that Buchholz decided to try his creative hand at fiction as well. His first attempt became the new mystery thriller, “The Castro Gene,” which received rave reviews. Celebrated San Diego business editor Don Bauder even contrasted Buchholz’s “New Stories from Dead CEOs” with “The Castro Gene,” calling the two “light versus dark.”
“You know, ‘The Castro Gene’ is dark and sinister, while the other one (‘Dead CEOs’) is bright and inspirational with real-life stories of real people,” Buchholz said.
Incidentally, his wife Debby Buchholz is general manager of the La Jolla Playhouse, and his high school-age daughter recently wrote her first play, which was so successful she actually had people crying in the audience during its performance.
“I haven’t been able to achieve that yet,” Buchholz said.
He is, however, co-producer of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical play “Jersey Boys,” so the entire Buchholz family appears to be going show business.
One hour before Buchholz’s lecture tonight, U.S. Trust and Bank of America Private Wealth Management will host a cocktail reception for him at the Lawrence Family JCC, and a book signing by the author is scheduled to follow.
Tickets and information can be found online by visiting www.tickets.lfjcc.org, or by calling (858) 362-1348.