or the present he is happy being chairman of Bugle Boy with responsibility
for its 1,200 employees and the 30-40,000 people who work for Bugle Boy's
suppliers and distributors around the world. "It's unbelievable the lives we
touch. I don't want to be a Rockefeller. Maybe a hundred years from now
Bugle Boy will be a $20 billion company, but by then I'll be hanging on the
wall somewhere."
The question of his next step is one that Mow plays close to the vest. I sense
a certain disingenuousness in his flippant dismissal of a Rockefeller future. If
BBI continues to grow at even half the rate of the past five years, it will be a
$20 billion company in about 25 years when Mow will be 79. Or, if he gets
impatient, there is the leverage game which he professes to detest, mocking
Trump, KK&R and the like. If he chooses to play, in five years Mow could
easily convert his 90% of BBI into a controlling interest in a $15-20 billion
public company. In the midst of a discussion about management Mow
mentions how he could make Chrysler profitable for the next five years just
by tightening up on inventory and implementing other "painless" measures to
improve efficiency. Clearly, he has thought about the Rockefeller question. A
man doesn't get to his position without thinking about it. Despite his
soft-spokenness, Mow is not a humble man. The one thing that comes
through clearly in the course of four lengthy conversations is his supreme
confidence in his management abilities. Having spit-polished BBI to a
fare-thee-well, Mow wouldn't be human if he hasn't considered ways to
project his management vision onto a bigger screen. Yet he isn't willing to
acknowledge even the faintest interest in that direction.
"That's the paradox," he says, bringing it back to family. "You work hard to
provide for your wife and kids. When you get there you don't want to give it
to them because it would ruin them." How many 560 AMGs can a man give
his wife? How many luxury homes can he give his daughters? Mow doesn't
feel the need to subject his dependents to the kind of hardships he's been
through. On the other hand, he isn't in any hurry to pass on the mantle.
Having become a bona fide tycoon at a younger age and in better health than
most, he clearly means to enjoy the role for as long as he can. And he has
placed himself in an unassailable position to do so.
or the present he is happy being chairman of Bugle Boy with responsibility
for its 1,200 employees and the 30-40,000 people who work for Bugle Boy's
suppliers and distributors around the world. "It's unbelievable the lives we
touch. I don't want to be a Rockefeller. Maybe a hundred years from now
Bugle Boy will be a $20 billion company, but by then I'll be hanging on the
wall somewhere."
