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Life Isn't Fair, But You Must be Fair
Would you honor an agreed upon deal for $54 million dollars if the value of your business went up to $225 million dollars before the papers were signed? Be honest - that's a difference of $171 million dollars! That's not pocket change. Who would do such a thing?
JohnHuntsman went from rags to riches. He developed the first plastic egg carton and about a decade later went into his own business and developed the first plastic plates, bowls, dishes, and take-out food containers, in addition to a plethora of products including the first Big Mac container.
JohnHuntsman is also a man of character. Radio talk show host, Glenn Beck, in a recent interview with Mr. Huntsman said this of the latter: "What has impressed me, sir, is what you have done with that money. You are an extreme capitalist who has gone literally from rags to riches and yet you do your business on a handshake. You look a man in the eye and a deal is a deal."
Yes, a deal is a deal and he lived up to one of the biggest deals in his life. The condensed story: He sold 40% of his business to a gentleman, Emerson, in 1986 for $54 million dollars on a handshake. Emerson insisted on getting his attorneys involved and the process of sealing the deal took well over six months. The value of 40% of the business was then $225 million! Emerson wanted to split the difference and offered $125 million to Huntsman.
Huntsman replied: "Emerson, that's not -- I will not accept that. I shook your hand at $54 million six months ago and that's exactly what you're going to pay for this business. And he was arguing that he should pay more and I was arguing that a handshake's a contract. I don't care about the lawyers. When you shake a man's hand, it's a contract. It's your bond. It tells a little bit about your integrity. And even though I may have lost money on that deal, Glenn, I didn't lose money in life. It was an important aspect for my children, my grandchildren and our corporation to see that when you make a deal, a deal is consummated with the shaking of another man's hand."
Emerson had such great respect for Huntsman that when Emerson died a few years later it was written in his papers that he wanted Huntsman to speak at his funeral.
You shake hands on a deal worth $54 million and then it balloons into $225 million before the papers are signed. Not fair, you say. What do you do then? Be fair says Huntsman.
Be fair. That says plenty about a person's character and values. Enrich your own life by being fair with all those you interact with, both in your business and in your personal life.
P.S. Mr. Huntsman is busy giving back in his retirement. Service must be one of his values also. The Huntsman Cancer Institute has been created, through the generosity of the Huntsman Family, to find the causes of cancer, to develop new and better treatments, and to prevent people from ever developing cancer.
Learn more.
P.P.S. You can read the entire interview here.
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