’s Related Parties column will document the lesser known and more personal connections between the country’s prominent business figures.
We were in one of the islands, and we were going to dinner. He says, “we’re never going to be able to cross this road. It’s terrible. It’s shocking. There are no lights, motorbikes screaming everywhere.”I said: “David, there’s one way to get across this particular roadway. We’re going to walk across this. The only thing I can offer you then is I can offer you to hop on my back. But that’s going to cost you $100,000 for the Peter McCallum .
The causes I’m most interested in are medical research and education. I’ve got a philosophy that you don’t take anything with you other than your good name that you can leave behind. We’ve got that philosophy in our family and I teach the next generation and hopefully, the generation after that understand their obligation.
I don’t believe that it’s a board’s responsibility to be able to pick one charity over another because it’s such a diverse group of investors in a company. The company doesn’t belong to the directors. In some cases, the directors might not even be shareholders.Solly is very focused and targeted. He’s just a phenomenal retailer. There’s a lot of humility with him. He makes plenty of decisions. He’s a tough businessman but retailing’s a tough gig.
I remember coming back from the airport, and it was 8 o’clock on a Friday. Colette Garnsey used to run fashion for him. I was in the car with her getting a lift, and he was calling her up seeing how the day’s sales had gone, the week’s sales had gone. That was 8 o’clock on a Friday.We’ve done a lot of business together, and he’s interested in people. He’s not aloof at all.