The Pohlad Empire (Part Three): Modern Airfare

[Peter Labuza]

In Part Three of a series, Carl Pohlad recruits an innovator to reform air travel. The reforms? Union-busting, cost-cutting, and destroying businesses for profit.

Image courtesy of © Tyler Orsburn/News Herald / USA TODAY NETWORK

Content Warning: this article includes a brief description of self-harm.

"Frank [Lorenzo] has provided an entrepreneurial spirit and dynamic leadership to this company for many years. Our board appreciates his vision and tireless efforts, which have benefited not only Continental and its people, but the entire traveling public.”
—Carl Pohlad

Being an owner means hiring the right people. After all, you might own something, but these people make the choices that actually create value, shape consumer and public sentiment, and make it worth owning the damn thing. But you have to take responsibility. After all, owning the power of the purse means you can change course at any moment if you feel it isn’t working. So if the person you put in charge of your business takes responsibility for transforming an entire industry, you might as well claim to be the genius behind it all.

For Carl Pohlad, that has meant cheap GMs like Terry Ryan, who would pride themselves on not even spending the paltry budget given. 

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For more on the history of the Pohlad family and their business interests, please see Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, and Part 5 of this series.

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In Part Three, I want to explain how Pohlad is in many ways not just financially responsible, but actually responsible for modern air travel. I'm guessing you have thoughts on modern air travel, and not the good kind. While experience discourages us from ever telling the story of a whole industry through the story of one man, many of the lessons the industry would copy originate with someone to whom Pohlad gave a green light to almost every point in his career. This did not just create a form of airlines; Pohlad and his ilk created the structures that now define modern private equity.

Pohald invested in Texas International Airlines (TIA), a dingy operation that only got its “international” name thanks to a single, money-losing route to Vera Cruz. The airline became famous for hitting a pair of trees while landing in Harlingen, Texas, due to lazy engineering in the altitude reading meters. A later plane crash in Arkansas in 1973 remains infamous for the fact that TIA never bothered to clean up the mess, which means you can hike out to it today.

Under Pohlad, the airline lost over $21 million between 1967 and 1971. The obvious idea would be to declare it a bad investment and sell it off, but Pohlad believed that the growth of the Texas oil industry along the Gulf Coast meant that this business would succeed one way or another. So they found a company and paid them $15,000 a month to study their business. And that would bring Frank Lorenzo to Carl Pohlad.

The son of Spanish immigrants, Lorenzo had briefly worked as an analyst for TWA before forming a “consulting” business in 1966. By 1969, he and a colleague formed Jet Capital, which was brought into Texas to help avoid bankruptcy with an infusion of cash from Chase Manhattan Bank and remake the airlines. Lorenzo acted as president and CEO, while Pohlad remained on the board.

Lorenzo had a plan that businesspeople loved: Be ruthless to customers and be ruthless to labor. He cut every cost involved, no matter whom it pissed off. Routes that lost money were canceled. The airlines introduced the first “Peanut Fares,” meant to attract new customers who would never otherwise experience the luxury of the Jet Age. In 1974, Lorenzo attempted to cut wages across both pilots and ground crew, resulting in a four-month strike. The only way Texas lived was a Mutual Aid Pact at the time that forced other airlines to pay for the strike. Lorenzo siphoned off over $10 million, angering other airlines in the process.

With ruthless cost-cutting, Lorenzo and Pohlad made TIA a “success,” though it was still mostly limited to its local area. Lorenzo was convinced they needed to expand, but not by growing their business. Airlines require more than just flying to new lines—you need crew and all the infrastructure. Lorenzo’s first push under the Reagan administration was to found New York Air, the first-ever non-union airline in the United States, promising low fares throughout the Eastern Corridor. But it could not compete with better-known airlines and a clientele who preferred the quality experiences of competitors.

Luckily, the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act would give him an opening, allowing Lorenzo to attempt to simply buy other airlines. Most businesses did not want to work with TIA and had no interest in combining them, so Lorenzo formulated a different plan:  Use the profits from TIA to buy stock in other airlines, and use leverage to control them. The target? Continental Airlines.

At the time, Continental was probably the best-liked airline. It had reasonable costs; it usually ran on time. Its employees genuinely respected CEO Alvin Feldman, who was a union booster. It was going through a period of low profits, as many airlines were, but there was no reason it could not recover. It was also quite large—way outside Lorenzo’s means. That brought Pohlad and other major financiers on board on a different plan to go after Continental.

Pohlad and other bankers forced down the stock price of Continental so much that it was worth less than the value of its planes. By 1981, Lorenzo had gained 48.5% of the shares. In an attempt to stop it, Feldman attempted something daring: he wanted to give control of the company to the employees. The idea was to issue new shares and simply hand them to Continental’s 12,000 workers. But the banks suddenly pulled out, and there was nothing Feldman could do.

In August 1981, Feldman went to his office at LAX, put a revolver to his head, and ended his life. According to his family, after losing his wife the previous year, he had poured his heart and soul into improving Continental, which was now being torn from him. Without him, any chance that the company could be run by the employees was over. President Reagan later blessed the deal that gave Pohlad and Lorenzo control of Continental. As far as my research could ascertain, Pohlad was never asked about the circumstances of Feldman’s death.

Lorenzo had control of a major airline. Now, he just needed a chance to run it his way, which meant destroying the unions. Rather than bargain with the union employees, Lorenzo purposefully defaulted and sent the airline into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. This was despite holding $288 Million in the bank in cash. Doing so allowed the airline to entirely escape its union contracts, something the increasingly conservative and labor-hostile Supreme Court affirmed in NLRB v. Bildisco & Bildisco (1981). The whole process would cost Continental $60 million.

But Lorenzo got his way: he slashed the 12,000-employee work force to fewer than 5,000, offering the workforce the right to come back at less than half pay. Pilots went from $89,000 a year to $43,000 and were considered scabs throughout the industry (often spat on for a decade onward). Meanwhile, Lorenzo poured his energy into training for the New York Marathon. Even Congress was so appalled at Lorenzo’s behavior it changed the law in 1984 to prevent something similar at another business.

As the president of ALPA explained, Lorenzo didn’t actually specialize in tough negotiations, “but rather in breaking his commitments to his employees and others and devising schemes to circumvent the time-honored collective bargaining process.” Of course, Wall Street loved it. Michael Milken, creator of the infamous junk bonds that almost destroyed the entire financial system at the end of the 1980s, raised $1 billion for Lorenzo to do whatever he wanted.

That meant going after Eastern Airlines, one of the crown jewels of the industry. With so much cash in hand, it was an easy takeover. Pohlad and Lorenzo now owned America’s largest airline, carrying one-sixth of the passengers across the United States. It would implode within two years. 

Once he took hold of Eastern, Lorenzo began quickly stripping it for parts. First, Eastern had modernized airlines by creating a travel agent registration system that allowed them to quickly find and book fares. That setup was worth almost half a billion dollars, but Lorenzo had Eastern “sell” the system to a holding company he owned at a bargain price of $100 million. He then charged Eastern $10 million a month to continue using the system. He created another holding company within Texas Air to charge $1 million a month for providing the service of supplying Eastern with fuel—not even the actual charge of fuel. Lorenzo sent $22 million from Eastern to Continental to operate as a “strike fund” so they could run all of Eastern’s lines. And of course, all the best jets and lines quickly became Continental lines. During all this, Lorenzo played hardball with the unions, forcing them to take bigger and bigger cuts to help keep the business “afloat.”

Lorenzo also sold his stock at the top during this. Overall, in the process of dismantling the airline, he repurposed or made off with $750 million in cash and assets.

Soon enough, Eastern was drowning in debt—almost $4 billion. This was one of the most successful airlines in the country not long before Lorenzo, but suddenly, it was on the brink of implosion. Pohlad, Milken, and others soon realized they needed to get Lorenzo out of there, but Lorenzo had just as much influence over Pohlad as Pohlad had over him. Pohlad had arranged a deal in 1989 to sell the airline to baseball commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth for $464 million, but Lorenzo pushed back and killed the deal.

During all this, the unions knew they needed another tactic against Lorenzo. Striking could destroy the business, so they kept negotiating and negotiating. But by March 1989, the pilots, machinists, and flight attendants had become sick of Lorenzo’s stalling and gimmicks, and finally went on strike.

That would eventually force the sell-off. Lorenzo turned to businessman Donald Trump to buy the airline at a discount. The real estate mogul took 17 planes covering Boston—New York—Washington D.C. in an attempt to make a luxury line, but it never became profitable.

The rest would be so bad that a judge would have to force the company into bankruptcy, ousting Lorenzo from his position and hiring a trustee. The business, by that point, was useless, and all that could be done was to sell the rest of the scraps. In bankruptcy court, all fingers pointed to Lorenzo—except Carl Pohlad, who called him “the most dedicated and decisive” businessman he knew. Meanwhile, the beneficiary of Eastern’s downfall, the still Pohlad-owned Continental, was now known for being “unreliable, unpredictable, often late, and frequently lost luggage.”

In 1991, the New York Times allowed Lorenzo to publish an op-ed lamenting the death of Eastern Airlines. He blamed the high cost of labor for baggage handlers who made a stunning $48,000 a year and called for Congress to abolish the National Mediation Board, which he called “unaccountable and completely beholden to the interests of organized labor.”

Pohlad stayed in airlines through Continental, eventually investing in Mesaba Aviation, a key partner for Northwest Airlines. During a strike in 2005, Northwest declared bankruptcy, and despite the law passed in 1984, snuck out of its union contracts and pulled the plug on a pension plan with over $4 billion in obligations. As one article noted, “None of the profits that Pohlad had accumulated over the years from Mesaba's relationship with NWA were to be considered in the bankruptcy process.” On the long list of people who lost money when Northwest passed through bankruptcy, you won't find Pohlad.

At the time, most airline executives initially found what Pohlad and Lorenzo did distasteful. But because they had so decisively altered the market, even their detractors had no choice but to follow. Almost every major airline killed their union pension in the mid-2000s, just as profits in the industry began to skyrocket. Flying has restored some of the luxury of the jet age era, if you are willing to pay thousands for a seat. Otherwise, that bottle of water will be $3. Some of those frustrations, large and small, trace back to Pohlad and a vulture he empowered for decades.

In Part Four, we'll turn to one of Pohlad's sons and begin asking: is there a different way to do business?

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[NYCTK]

Broke: Carl Pohlad foreclosed homes during the depression

Woke: Carl Pohlad ruthlessly killed a man 

[jmlease1]

The deregulation of the airline industry is hailed as a huge victory by business leaders, and anti-government regulation types, but it's fairly clear that the only people it helped were the very wealthy investor class and Pohlad-esque oligarchs.

Air travel today is not good, and for decades has been an uncomfortable experience where passengers are treated more like cattle than customers. Thanks, Carl.

[Twinsgypsy]

Quite the dark side Mr. Pohlad had being involved with scum like Lorenzo,   Definitely not the" Savior of Twins " image that has been portrayed over the years.  Ruthless and very unsavory business practices gives him a well earned reputation as the "EVIL BANKER".

[NYCTK]

20 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

The deregulation of the airline industry is hailed as a huge victory by business leaders, and anti-government regulation types, but it's fairly clear that the only people it helped were the very wealthy investor class and Pohlad-esque oligarchs.

Air travel today is not good, and for decades has been an uncomfortable experience where passengers are treated more like cattle than customers. Thanks, Carl.

Deregulation period. Thankfully, now we have smart people in positions of power in this country that really value the people over money...

[Doctor Gast]

OMG, thanks Peter for opening our eyes, for taking time to uncover all this dirt. I've been led to believe that Carl Pohlads kept the Twins from being bought by outside buyers & moved out of state. The Feldman story is heart-wrenching. Just think we can thank Pohlad for our present airline situation. Although we can't blame him for Covid or 911.

[TaterTot]

Never knew all this, that Carl pohlad made his way through shady and sometimes imorral busniess practices. Not sad to see the pohlads go and leave this dark history behind 

[Johnny Ringo]

" Pohlad had arranged a deal in 1989 to sell the Twins to baseball commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth for $464 million, but Lorenzo pushed back and killed the deal."

Selling the Twins in 1989 for $464 million would be a nice piece of business.

Is there no editorial oversight at Twins Daily? Not only is this piece an assault on facts (the line above is clearly wrong) and the English language, it lacks even a rudimentary understanding of finance and the bankruptcy code.

I am not defending the Pohalds in any sense.

But Mr. Labuza is way over his skis here. He had a similar problem when he  wrote about the Bally bankruptcy. He seems to think he understands things that he clearly doesn't. I spent years in the bankruptcy space and this is like a doctor watching Doogie Howser operate on a patient.  He is using a rubber chicken rather than a scalpel. 

Do these articles have anything to do with the Twins or baseball? Not really. Maybe they should find their way to I Hate Bankers Daily or I Hate Rich Guys Daily. I am sure the readership is much bigger there.  

[NYCTK]

41 minutes ago, Johnny Ringo said:

Do these articles have anything to do with the Twins or baseball? Not really. Maybe they should find their way to I Hate Bankers Daily or I Hate Rich Guys Daily. I am sure the readership is much bigger there.  

It's quite upfront about being a career retrospective about the evil banker that owned the Twins for many decades before he rode the Styx River.

Your points about his clear misstatement over what business Pohlad was attempting to sell are very valid, but there was no intent to lie, seeing as how he provided the sources so you can quite easily check that confusing misstatement. 

Bankers aren't inherently bad. But there's a reason the villain in the most famous Christmas movie is a banker. Pohlad is just another is a long line of immoral individuals that exploited his fellow man for a buck. If you're angry that this is being pointed out, I don't know what to say. 

It is easier for a camel to travel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter paradise. 

[Matthew Trueblood]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ringo said:

" Pohlad had arranged a deal in 1989 to sell the Twins to baseball commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth for $464 million, but Lorenzo pushed back and killed the deal."

Selling the Twins in 1989 for $464 million would be a nice piece of business.

Is there no editorial oversight at Twins Daily? Not only is this piece an assault on facts (the line above is clearly wrong) and the English language, it lacks even a rudimentary understanding of finance and the bankruptcy code.

I am not defending the Pohalds in any sense.

But Mr. Labuza is way over his skis here. He had a similar problem when he  wrote about the Bally bankruptcy. He seems to think he understands things that he clearly doesn't. I spent years in the bankruptcy space and this is like a doctor watching Doogie Howser operate on a patient.  He is using a rubber chicken rather than a scalpel. 

Do these articles have anything to do with the Twins or baseball? Not really. Maybe they should find their way to I Hate Bankers Daily or I Hate Rich Guys Daily. I am sure the readership is much bigger there.  

You and I will have to agree to disagree on almost all of this, but the first part there is a much-needed catch, and I owe all the readers an apology there! I fumbled the edit. Peter had written "the team", which I went to edit to "the airline," but my brain was working on too many different things at the time and I changed it to "the Twins". A grievous error on my part. Thanks for catching it!

[Johnny Ringo]

20 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

It's quite upfront about being a career retrospective about the evil banker that owned the Twins for many decades before he rode the Styx River.

Your points about his clear misstatement over what business Pohlad was attempting to sell are very valid, but there was no intent to lie, seeing as how he provided the sources so you can quite easily check that confusing misstatement. 

Bankers aren't inherently bad. But there's a reason the villain in the most famous Christmas movie is a banker. Pohlad is just another is a long line of immoral individuals that exploited his fellow man for a buck. If you're angry that this is being pointed out, I don't know what to say. 

It is easier for a camel to travel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter paradise. 

Saying that all bankers and rich people are evil is as ignorant as saying that all (fill in the race or religion) are (fill in disgusting pejorative).  That point of view is utterly hypocritical.  I am sure that you would decry racism or sexism but you embrace classism like an old friend. 

If you don't understand that contradiction, I don't know what to say. 

[NYCTK]

15 minutes ago, Johnny Ringo said:

Saying that all bankers and rich people are evil is as ignorant as saying that all (fill in the race or religion) are (fill in disgusting pejorative). 

Good thing no one said that. 

15 minutes ago, Johnny Ringo said:

That point of view is utterly hypocritical.  I am sure that you would decry racism or sexism but you embrace classism like an old friend. 

Trying to portray the proletariat's righteous anger of their generations long exploitation by those with all the power as "classism" is...a choice. 

[Peter Labuza]

I will say: when I started investigating the Pohlads for this history, I didn't know much about their specific businesses. Mostly real estate and banks. The fact that I found all these other stories I think speaks volumes. The contention I would suggest is I don't think the Pohlads are unique in their practices, however. But the particulars here are not just revealing about how they run their businesses, but how they've run the Twins.

[Blyleven2011]

In order to purchase a baseball franchise the other owners have to approve a sale of the new owners , either the other owners are just as ruthless as Carl was , or they were not aware of the business tactics of Carl and associates ,  if you have a conscience you might not have accepted Carl as a new owner in 1984  , but as the old saying goes  , MONEY TALKS AND BULL**IT WAĹKS ...

I hope there is baseball in heaven and I don't have to see Carl there , the rich have sold there soul for the greed of money , they don't deserve the reward  ...

I'm happy with the little bit of money I've earned and saved , it's not alot but I might not spend it all before I go ...

[Johnny Ringo]

2 hours ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

You and I will have to agree to disagree on almost all of this, but the first part there is a much-needed catch, and I owe all the readers an apology there! I fumbled the edit. Peter had written "the team", which I went to edit to "the airline," but my brain was working on too many different things at the time and I changed it to "the Twins". A grievous error on my part. Thanks for catching it!

I am sorry that we disagree. There are a number of problems with this article. Do you want to move on next to this one?

"As one article noted, “None of the profits that Pohlad had accumulated over the years from [NWA’s parent company]'s relationship with NWA were to be considered in the bankruptcy process.” On the long list of people who lost money when Northwest passed through bankruptcy, you won't find Pohlad. "

Problems:

--Misstates what Pohlad actually owned (not NWA's parent company) ; 

--Uses a website called Against the Current as a definitive source:

--Lacks understanding of the bankruptcy code and the guard rails of fraudulent transfer and undue enrichment.  There is no evidence that Pohlad received preferential treatment in this bankruptcy. 

There are about ten more turkeys in this article.

I am not about defending the Pohalds. But even unpopular owners deserve facts. 

  

[Schmoeman5]

Right after Carl abandoned a litter of puppies, he called Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas, to shrink seat size so he could stuff more of the proletariat onto each jet. 

[Johnny Ringo]

4 hours ago, Peter Labuza said:

I will say: when I started investigating the Pohlads for this history, I didn't know much about their specific businesses. Mostly real estate and banks. The fact that I found all these other stories I think speaks volumes. The contention I would suggest is I don't think the Pohlads are unique in their practices, however. But the particulars here are not just revealing about how they run their businesses, but how they've run the Twins.

If anyone wants to say the Pohlads have been bad owners and have been ridiculously cheap and cruelly indifferent to the fans, I will buy the beer. But this is just innuendo spaghetti thrown at the wall, rife with factual errors. 

[bean5302]

How to create a narrative history to demonize a public figure and perform modern internet based character assassination on a guy who died 16yrs ago, by @Peter Labuza

[NYCTK]

21 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

How to create a narrative history to demonize a public figure and perform modern internet based character assassination on a guy who died 16yrs ago, by @Peter Labuza

Won't someone PLEASE think of the Billionaires that amassed their wealth through the exploitation of others? 

[Parfigliano]

10 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

The deregulation of the airline industry is hailed as a huge victory by business leaders, and anti-government regulation types, but it's fairly clear that the only people it helped were the very wealthy investor class and Pohlad-esque oligarchs.

Air travel today is not good, and for decades has been an uncomfortable experience where passengers are treated more like cattle than customers. Thanks, Carl.

I avoid it if at all possible.

[Schmoeman5]

39 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Won't someone PLEASE think of the Billionaires that amassed their wealth through the exploitation of others? 

As I said in chapter 1 of this series. The majority of fortunes have been gained at the misfortune of others. So thumbs down away. 😄 Karl Marx would agree with you. Maybe Carl Pohlad was a scoundrel or worse. What's that got to do with the Twins? Are his kids and grand children guilty? Write a feel good story about any squeaky clean person. I'll bet you'll still find some dirt somewhere. Hey. Better yet. Let's make them feel so guilty that they just blow all their money on making the Twins the 1st rate ball club Twins fans deserve. 😄 i believe the Ishbia family has been sued numerous times. Does that disqualify them too?

[NYCTK]

4 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Karl Marx would agree with you.

Never read the man's work. And I'm guessing neither have you. But he seems smart based on this. 

5 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

What's that got to do with the Twins?

What does the long time owner of the Twins have to do with the Twins? Idk man, you got me. 

6 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Are his kids and grand children guilty

Bill directed a pretty decent Biopic, so that's cool. 

7 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

i believe the Ishbia family has been sued numerous times. Does that disqualify them too?

You'll not see me defending their moral character. They, like the loser pohlad family, and many other billionaires, inherited their businesses from their daddy. No evidence they're smart or special. All these ruling class idiots are no better or smarter than anyone on this website. Even the richest man in the world has proven he's actually an evil idiot. 

But the one brother likes baseball, so hopefully he just blows it on that instead of some stupid Superyacht. 

[Peter Labuza]

12 hours ago, Peter Labuza said:

In Part Four, we'll turn to one of Pohlad's sons and begin asking: is there a different way to do business?

 

For those who think that I think wealth can only be bad, please read tomorrow's piece. 

[Schmoeman5]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

Never read the man's work. And I'm guessing neither have you. But he seems smart based on this. 

What does the long time owner of the Twins have to do with the Twins? Idk man, you got me.

 

I have read Marx and the utopia that was promised with that doctrine. It's worked wonders for the former USSR and China. They're only responsible by conservative estimates of a couple hundred million lives. "What does the long time owner of the Twins have to do with the Twins?"  Yeah! What does he have to do with the current Twins since he's um, deceased? But while he was in control, didn't they win 2 WS. All those things written in these articles didn't matter then, did they?  It's their money, they will do whatever they want with it irregardless of how you or I think or wish they would spend it.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Unfortunately in a set of articles like this there is no room for nuance, which is sorely needed.  Also unfortunate that everyone can find something in it that reinforces something of their predetermined narrative.  Carl Pohlad was a rich businessman.  I'm not sure that any billionaire qualifies as a good person all of the time.  In pretty much every case I've seen, someone took advantage of someone else to amass that kind of fortune.  I'm sure that Carl Pohlad did too, as did probably every single sports franchise owner in the country.  In fact, probably every single person with the money to buy a sports franchise has done that.   I'm also aware that Carl Pohlad did step up to buy the Twins when they appeared to be on a one way bus ride to Nashville or Charlotte back in the 1980's.  In retrospect, he got an AMAZING deal, but that same deal was available to anyone else that wanted to outbid him as I'm sure that Calvin Griffith (now THERE was an owner -- Yikes!) was holding out for every last nickel he could bleed from the franchise.  I'm not a big Pohlad family fan, but I also don't think it's necessary to beat up a man who has been dead for more than a decade.  I personally CAN'T WAIT for a sale!

[NYCTK]

5 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

What does he have to do with the current Twins since he's um, deceased?

Great point. I think we should refrain from discussing Harmon Killebrew as well. 

Talking about OLD Twins on a Twins website? No thank you. Your time is done, Joe Mauer. 

[NYCTK]

10 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

I'm not a big Pohlad family fan, but I also don't think it's necessary to beat up a man who has been dead for more than a decade.

I'll stop when the statue is removed. 

[Schmoeman5]

1 minute ago, NYCTK said:

Great point. I think we should refrain from discussing Harmon Killebrew as well. 

Talking about OLD Twins on a Twins website? No thank you. Your time is done, Joe Mauer. 

The follow up part of your cherry picking aspect of the whole quote was that it didn't seem to matter when the Twins won in 87 and 91. He was still the same rotten guy then but it didn't matter or at least it made people look the other way. You're funny.

[Peter Labuza]

1 hour ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

In retrospect, he got an AMAZING deal, but that same deal was available to anyone else that wanted to outbid him as I'm sure that Calvin Griffith (now THERE was an owner -- Yikes!) was holding out for every last nickel he could bleed from the franchise. 

Actually there was a better deal on the table: real estate mogul Donald J. Trump offered $50 million.

[NYCTK]

11 hours ago, Peter Labuza said:

For those who think that I think wealth can only be bad, please read tomorrow's piece. 

I see that I unknowingly foreshadowed the next in the series lol