Randy Jones | May 16, 2009

The eminent novelist Thomas Wolfe once posited that you can’t go home again; in fact, that was the title of one of his best-received novels. Well, I beg to differ. I admit that growing up among the tall pines of Carrollton, Georgia, I often dreamed of the world outside this quaint little hamlet. I wanted to experience that wider world and all its attendant glories. And looking back now, I can say that I have seen much of the world and tasted many of its splendors.
Carrollton doesn’t look that different today from how it did when I was growing up here; there is more traffic, but I would say there is much more culture and sophistication, too. What hasn’t changed, however, is the warmth and grace of her people, and I experienced that in spades this week as I celebrated the release of my new book, The Richest Man in Town, in my hometown. I can’t remember when I’ve had a better time, or a warmer welcome.

Category: Money and Meaning, The Richest Man in Town book, The RMIT Life | No Comments »
Tags: Carrollton, Georgia, New York, The Richest Man in Town, Thomas Wolfe

Randy Jones | May 13, 2009

As I was conducting the research for what became The Richest Man in Town, I ran into a huge problem: How was I to write a book about the secrets of creating wealth, when in interview after interview, my subjects denied that they had set out to create any wealth at all? Almost invariably, the RMITs gave me some version of the line, “It’s not about the money.” Randal J. (RJ) Kirk, a biotech billionaire and the richest man in Belspring, Virginia, told me, “It’s a Zen thing—if you seek money alone as your ultimate goal, you are almost assured of not receiving any.” My initial reaction to statements like that was skepticism: Well, yeah, that’s easy for you to say as you sit comfortably upon your billion-dollar wallet. I thought this was simply a white lie, one of those things wealthy people say so as not to sound arrogant or greedy. And when I questioned them further, many of my subjects admitted that in youth what they wanted to be when they grew up was—rich. I can tell you, it’s very much about the money.

But after a hundred of those interviews, I can also tell you that for RMITs, money is just a yardstick, an indicator of something deeper.

Category: #1: Seek Money for Money's Sake and Ye Shall Not Find, The Twelve Commandments | No Comments »
Tags: Belspring Virginia, Randal J. Kirk, RJ Kirk, wealth creation

Randy Jones | May 9, 2009

I have long thought that Jesse Kornbluth is one of the finest writers in America. He has a sharp wit, an incisive understanding of the culture and despite his occasional playful grumpiness is a kind writer, too. Vanity Fair hasn’t been the same without his powerful pen. And to my great delight, the great writer had some nice things to say about The Richest Man in Town, and a few very funny things, too. In his review, Kornbluth poses this question:

Have you noticed that almost no one ever seems to ask the rich about the subject they know best? No, on the Fiddler on the Roof theory—“When you’re rich, they think you really know”—the rich get to sound off on all manner of topics outside their expertise. We’re regularly served their views on inheritance taxes, wars, medical research and the arts. What’s harder to ferret out: what they know about becoming and staying rich.

Jesse Kornbluth says that my book delivers in this regard, bless him. He does make a little fun of me and my lifestyle, saying, “As far as I can tell, he [that would be me] has amassed piles of money. In addition to the duplex in Manhattan, there’s a house in Westchester. I doubt his kids have ever been shamed by clothes from the Gap. And his wife needed an operation on her earlobes a while back, thanks to decades of wearing earrings encrusted with massive diamonds. (No. Not really. But you get the idea.)” Very funny, Jesse, and by the way my kids most certainly do wear clothes from the Gap. My wife does have earlobe problems, though.

Despite Jesse’s rather regal impression, in truth I am simply faking it ’til I make it. After two years of research and hundreds of hours of interviews, though, I am rich—if not yet in extreme wealth—in ideas and inspiration for new business-building opportunities that I can’t wait to execute.

Category: Money and Meaning, The Richest Man in Town book | No Comments »
Tags: BYOB, Jesse Kornbluth, reviews, The Richest Man in Town

Randy Jones | May 5, 2009

In television news, it seems that the old journalistic truism “If it bleeds, it leads” has been supplanted by “Give the people what they want,” which, if what often runs as news is any indication, is underage starlets and their wardrobe malfunctions. Don’t get me wrong—I love movies, I happily flip through magazines like People and Us Weekly on occasion, and I’m addicted to Dancing with the Stars. But I’m beginning to think this obsessive coverage of celebrities and their misadventures is crowding out the real news that Hollywood was meant to provide an occasional entertaining escape from. We have totally lost sight of who and what really make this country the best place on earth to live and to pursue the American dream.

Category: Business and Entrepreneurship, In the news | No Comments »
Tags: Brangelina, broadcast media, celebrity culture, Dancing with the Stars, Hollywood, journalism, media, news, small- and medium-size businesses, Wall Street