I may be kindly, I am ordinarily gentle, but in my line of business I am obliged to will terribly what I will at all.
[On Laura Nyro] I said to Laura ‘You know Laura, I think we should sell your music publishing company. I think right now is the right time you have three songs in the top ten this may never happen again and I think we can get a lot of money for it.’ And I made a deal with Clive Davis to sell Tuna Fish Music for $4 million. And that was a hell of a lot of money in 1969. It made her famous, it made her rich. It got people to listen to her music with her singing.
Everything I do in life is framed through the view of a businessman. That’s my instinct. If I go into a pharmacy to buy shaving cream, then I’m going to look for the best deal on shaving cream.
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.
When bankers get into business they usually destroy it.
The main job of the entrepreneur is to define the mission, find and inspire the team, and lead.
Competition is the lifeblood of industry.
As far as competition is concerned, that must continue. But we must learn what competition really is. It is a striving to attain the best. To throttle it would mean to stop all progress. Certain men do not need to compete. They are pioneers.
I suspect that many corporations have begun to understand that they have an important role to play in the lives of their communities, and that allocating funds to support local groups helps them discharge that function and also burnish their image.
After the situation with Kursk submarine, I started looking at Mr. Berezovsky in a completely different way. For me, it was a turning point in our relationship. I think that he took a completely dishonorable position.
The real story of Facebook is just that we’ve worked so hard for all this time. I mean, the real story is actually probably pretty boring, right? I mean, we just sat at our computers for six years and coded.
Investors have very short memories.
I remember flying in, driving down 101 in a cab, and passing by all these tech companies like Yahoo! I remember thinking, ‘Maybe someday we’ll build a company. This probably isn’t it, but one day we will.’
There should be rivalry between men and between business.
Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law.
As betting at the race ring adds neither strength nor speed to the horse, so the exchange of shares in the stock market adds no capital to business, no increase in the production and no purchasing power to the market.
Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.
Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.
I believe that any stock that is sold should have real value as automobile or bushel of potatoes, and stock market should be run as a vegetable market.
Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented.
I don’t know the exact details of his background but from what I have read Mr. Abramovich had a very humble start in life and has made his own luck.
