Corporate Undertaker

We road that wave of success and continued to expand our business throughout the former Soviet Union. We were looking at building subdivisions, golf resorts, and a marina; we were negotiating to have all of our beer manufactured exclusively at our own facility in the Czech Republic; and our finance company had grown to the point where we applied and qualified as a licensed commercial bank. This was a huge success. In my mind, I was conquering. I was building an empire. I spent many days reading about Andrew Carnegie, J. D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and JP Morgan. I thought I was a new industrialist. And if I had any doubt, I just read more books by authors such as Tony Robbins, Brian Tracey, Zig Ziglar, and Wayne Dyer. This was the ’90s; everything was possible. Whatever I could dream of, I could achieve. I could own many banks, many buildings, many ships, many businesses. There was no limit. I just had to believe, repeat it, and act as if it already had happened. I would awaken the giant inside of me and turn everything I touched into gold. I was absolutely convinced that as we marched toward the 21st century, I was reliving what it was like to be living at the end of the 19th century in America. That was a period of great change, excitement, and newfound wealth. Now it was happening in Russia and there I was—in on the ground floor. I was certain that I would become a titan of industry and commerce.

Then, one day, my partner was confronted by two men outside of our office in Moscow. One of them held a medium-sized, black leather duffle bag. He opened the bag to show my partner its contents. It was filled with clay-based explosives. As my partner looked in the bag, one of the men said, “We will blow up your building, kill all of your employees, kill your families, and then the three of you.” Ordinary crime had just reached an extraordinary level.

We had received word from one adversary that we needed to get out of the banking business. We were told that we could keep our food and real estate endeavors, but banking was to cease. I was a businessman; I just wanted to make money. I had no interest in fighting anyone. I thought that having two out of three businesses was fine. I was disappointed, but I didn’t fret because there were so many other opportunities that we could pursue. My partners saw it differently, however. They were Russian. They had grown up in a more privileged world in the Soviet Union. They were well-educated, well-connected, and had no intention of giving in to this group. They just viewed them as another business obstacle. Unfortunately, this group decided to be very precise in their negotiations. They intended to make a statement by blowing up our office and killing everyone associated with us.

Despite my pleading, my partners dug in their heels. To me, it was clear; if I fought back, I would have to kill people. The moment I did that, I would be a criminal and there would be no turning back from that life. It was a struggle for power and I was willing to concede. I just wanted to be a businessman; mobster wasn’t on the agenda.

Before we could deliver an answer, we received their response. One of my partner’s homes was completely shredded by machine gun fire and he and his family had disappeared. We weren’t certain if he had escaped or whether he had been kidnapped or killed. We decided to send all of our employees’ home. My other partner went into hiding, and I buried myself in my office in the States.

I didn’t have any books that prepared me for being hunted. I just sat and waited for the smoke to clear or to be killed. Within a couple of days, just as I had expected, two men showed up outside of my home. They sat in their car each night, all night, and just watched me. I didn’t leave the house.