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REMARKS TO THE EAST TEXAS
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Thank you, Hartley (Chelin).
[Handwritten addition: Yesterday TBA—No speech—GW Sun—Selling books and making speeches—I will sell all the way on this book—not money but a philosophy.]
I wrote my autobiography because I felt I had an interesting story to tell.
My dealings have received a lot of press coverage over the years. . .but the articles were just snapshots.
The story needed to be told uninterrupted. . .I wanted to paint the whole picture.
Boone is not just about business deals.
It’s about success, what it means and what it takes to succeed.
It’s about money. . .how to make it and how to lose it.
But most of all, it’s about Corporate America, and where it went wrong. . .a side of American business few have ever seen.
I’ve written a new introduction for paperback, [Text stricken: because a] [Handwritten addition: A] lot has happened since the hardback was released. . .insider trading, the rise of the bull market and its fall on October 19. . .and an erosion of the free market.
Yet the story that Boone tells is as timely today as when it first came out.
[Handwritten addition: Nobody has challenged the books accuracy—the facts have stood the test.]
I explain in the book the need for major oil companies to restructure, and I talk about how Big Oil’s CEOs have resisted change.
Today, the business community has come to realize that takeovers in the oil patch were just a part of a much larger issue. . .the restructuring of Corporate America.
[Handwritten addition: I had about 25% of the experts on my side in ’87 and prob. 75% today.]
[Handwritten addition: Academics have verified my observations with their studies.]
We’re seeing a transformation of American business:
—Focus on results, not size;
—Create value, not empires lie
[Handwritten addition: Restructuring has evolved exactly the way we predicted in the book. . .]
Restructuring. . .a rethinking of the old conglomerate theory. . .size syndrome [Text stricken: Goodyear example.]
First speech I made on restructuring. . .L.A. in 1982. . .guy said he wasn’t sure what I was talking about. . .Symphony.
[Handwritten addition: I talk more about Fred in the book. . .Perfect example of the good ol boys]
He wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand the issue back then. . .many people still don’t.
[Text stricken: With restructuring, we’ve returned to the basic principles of capitalism. . .based on creating value for owners.]
[Text stricken: Countless studies show restructuring is making America more competitive. . .more efficient, productive, profitable.]
[Text stricken: Proof. . .Fortune 500 companies’ profits soared to all-time highs in 1987.]
[Text stricken: But the] [Handwritten addition: The] Good Ol’ Boy CEOs [Text stricken: I talk about in the book] are still out there, lobbying to maintain the status quo.
[Handwritten addition: I said we need to phase them out to get competitive and we are.]
[Handwritten addition: That’s] The good news [Text stricken: is that the Good Ol’ Boys Club has lost a lot of its members. . .being phased out.]
The bad news is that the ones who are left are more powerful and more entrenched than ever. . .they’ve united to fight for their 4 Ps (Explain).
This group is easy to identify. . .No stock. . .Big salary. . .Big bonus. . .Big mouth:
—And something that’s spread like wildfire since Boone was first released. . .anti-shareholder provisions
[Text stricken: Poison pills, golden parachutes, dual class voting, etc]. . .all designed to protect management from shareholders.
[Handwritten addition: But also shareholder activism and awareness has spread—I think Boone had a lot to do with that. I get letters every day. . . .]
[Handwritten addition: Never make a speech that I don’t sign books—(Dallas TBA)]
The best way to beat entrenched management is by upgrading the public’s knowledge of the abuses in Corporate America. . .47 million shareholders; millions more in pension funds.
That’s why [Handwritten addition: beyond [Text stricken: just] writing the book] I’ve donated the proceeds from Boone to the United Shareholders Association, which my wife Bea and I formed in August 1986.
[Handwritten addition: USA is fighting to restore shareholders rights.]
Trying to reestablish the basic principle that made this country the most powerful economic force in history:
—Creating value for owners
Stick to that principle and everything else falls in place. . .employees, communities, consumers.
When I wrote Boone, I took up a cause more important than my own financial gains. . .the restoration of America’s competitiveness and prosperity.
I donated more than 700 hours of my time to write Boone and have given speeches across America on the need for restructuring.
So I promise you. . .nobody will work harder to sell Boone than Boone.
Thank you.
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