OCTOBER 12TH, 2008
By JBUR1
Easy come easy go. I’m not sure where the lesson is in this story other than the obvious one of the benefits and dangers of leverage. I’m not sure what can be learned from this story but I’m posting it because of the sheer magnitude of the dollar amount, how quickly it vaporized and the size of the bets this guy was making.
A lot of the Forbes 400 are gamblers and risk takers but this takes it to a whole new level. Aubrey McClendon was truly a CEO that put his money on the line along with shareholders. Unfortunately, Aubrey was #134 on this year’s Forbes 400 list. Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, most likely lost 100% of his entire $3 Billion net worth over the last 3 months. Check out this chart on Chesapeake Energy. It went from $70 to as low as $11in just over 3 months.
The advice from this big money story is more clear to me now than when I started this post.
Here’s the lesson. In order to become ultra wealthy, you have to have a little bit of gambler in you. Aubrey McClendon takes the prize with this story but the principle holds true. To become big money you have to place a big bet and continue to place them. Too many people expect too big of a return on a small bet, which is why the lottery is so popular. The other principle is that Aubrey McClendon bet on himself when he bought his company’s stock. As CEO, that’s definitely placing a bet on yourself which shows extreme confidence and aggressiveness.
Tying it all together, to have $3 billion to lose, you have to bet big and bet on yourself.
OCTOBER 8TH, 2008
By JBUR1
Follow the Big Money wherever it goes and leave all prejudices and judgements behind. This is much harder to do than it sounds. If you haven’t always followed this advice, don’t worry, you have lots of good company. A lot of the very wealthy and large corporations have made the same mistake and its cost them untold billions.
When you’re reading the news, keep an eye out for stories that have large dollar amounts attached to them and try to figure out why the money’s going there.
One such story that is a test for a lot of people is the contract that Rush Limbaugh just signed in July, see article. His contract included a 9 figure signing bonus that went with his $400 million. Thats guaranteed up front. Nobody gets guaranteed 9 figure signing bonuses, not Tiger Woods, not Leonardo DiCaprio and not CEO’s. That’s pretty good for a 3 hour workday. You could say he’s the biggest personality around, and I don’t mean his weight. The only person that’s in his universe is Oprah.
So how does he pull it off? Working backwards, if you have that kind of money following you then you need sponsors and advertisers that pay big for your time. They’ll only pay big if your audience is big and loyal. So how did he get such a big and loyal audience?
I’ve identified five things:
He’s passionate about his work, he’s always well prepared, the show moves quickly so he gets a lot in (good value for time spent), he always has plenty of content from start to finish and most importantly, he’s formed a community of listeners that feel a sense of connection and trust him.
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2008
By JBUR1
I love the etiquette of a blog. If I run across helpful information either on the web or in a conversation that could help people I don’t like it going to waste. I want to pass it on. What are my options though? Well, I could tell everyone I see and speak to in person but how do you do that without coming across like a windbag? I could send a blast email to every email address I have but if the advice is not relevant to you it seems like spam. Plus, you didn’t ask for my help in the first place.
The other limiting factor in the first two examples is the lack of reach. The information can only travel as far as my circle unless it keeps getting passed on or forwarded by people in my circle to others in their circle. But what if the information could be beneficial to someone outside my own circle and my circle’s circle? A blog widens my reach and ability to inform exponentially.
Most importantly, you, the reader, are in complete control of how you want to be informed. First, you decide if you’re interested. Then, you decide how to be notified for updates either by email, rss feed or returning to the site again. What could be more polite than that?
