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| First Person |
A Gamble that Keeps Paying
Bill Cullen
05/03/2004
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It is true that poverty can cloud the horizon for children. But having a
family steadfast in its love, compassion and determination, along with a little
business savvy, can give them the drive they need to create bright futures. I
was raised in a family with little money, but the values and business acumen I
learned from my hard-working mother led me to a series of business successes
culminating, at age 44, in an implausible gamble that would pay off
handsomely.
I bought a dying 42-company conglomerate in 1986 for just $1,
plus the assumption of $25 million in debt—with a 24 percent interest rate. The
primary company in the group was the Renault distributorship in Ireland. I was
able to turn this company around and earn a profit of a quarter-million dollars
a year later. Its success allowed me to do philanthropic work with the youth of
Ireland, and soon, possibly, we will have help and support in that work in the
United States.
The influence of my mother, Mary, has spilled over to my
philanthropic endeavors and my treatment of employees. I grew up in the Dublin
inner-city slums, but family values, including sharing, compassion and an
optimistic outlook, were crucial to making our family survive and prosper. When
a person becomes wealthy, those same values keep him on a straight and true
course.
When I read Angela’s Ashes about Frank McCourt’s poor childhood in
Limerick, I wanted to show another side of the story. As my grandmother taught
us: We weren’t poor, we just had no money. We had all the things that
counted—loving, caring parents and a sharing community. None of us in the
neighborhood had money, but we helped each other and looked out for each other.
That is why I wrote It’s a Long Way from Penny Apples. I wrote every word
myself, and it is about my memories of the hard times, with good time and bad,
about childhood business experiences, and how I was able to rise to the position
I have today.
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