Introduction
Over the past 75 years, I have consulted for, financed, or directly managed both private and public companies on nearly every continent. I have been involved in ventures ranging from the birth of high-definition television and video-editing services companies such as the Rebo Group in the United States, to owning and operating private golf clubs in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Raray, France. I helped companies such as Issey Miyake and Wacoal USA rise from the ashes of potential bankruptcy, and I have worked to streamline and grow corporate giants such as Samsung in South Korea and Koor Industries, formerly an arm of the Histadrut, in Israel in the 1980s. I was also responsible for bringing Western fashion to Japanese consumers and was the first to implement mass-manufactured sportswear in the United States when I bought the Anne Klein Company in the early 1970s and launched Anne Klein II, what the fashion industry today calls a bridge line. I am on the board of numerous fashion companies, as well as trustee for a handful of educational institutions in the United States and overseas.
I mention these facts not to gloat, but to delineate the breadth of my life experience. I regret that this book cannot delve into all of these stories and learned lessons. However, I believe that it illustrates whom I have become and what I have learned as an international consultant and manager.
Sharing discourse and advice with businesspersons—ranging from those managing mom-and-pop shops to ...
