| Q |
You
were largely responsible for putting together
the various land deals that now make up MRC
forest lands. What were your strategies in making
these land purchases? |
| |
Answer
Focus on
People and Technology |
| |
Answer
Use Stock
to Buy Assets |
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|
| Q |
Was
there any one purchase that you thought was
the “jewel in the crown” as far
as the MRC lands? Answer
|
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|
Q |
What
obstacles did you run into when making your
acquisitions in Mendocino County? Were there
any deals that you could not make happen despite
your best efforts? Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
Your
first real job after college was with Rounds
and Kilpatrick Lumber Company in Cloverdale,
CA. Ralph Rounds quickly moved you up the corporate
ladder and you became a V.P. by the age of 33.
According to your book, your relationship with
Ralph Rounds was almost that of father and son—something
that was largely missing in your life. What
type of a man was Ralph Rounds? Answer |
| |
|
Q |
What
was your opinion of Bill and Dwight Rounds?
Did the sons who were given wealth without earning
it have a different attitude toward Rockport
Redwood Company and the business than their
father did? Even Stephen Ambrose in his book
The Wild Blue, which is about George McGovern
and his bomber crew in WWII, talks about Bill’s
wild side. How did you see Bill?
Answer
|
| |
|
| Q |
Why
did Bill Rounds sell Rockport? Some have speculated
that he needed the money to make up for bad
investments and debts? Answer
|
| |
|
| Q |
Were
you surprised when Dwight Rounds committed suicide
at 46 years of age? Did you understand what
led up to it?Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
Now
that you’re a grandfather, do you look
at the timber industry differently? Have you
changed your views on how a redwood forest should
be managed? Or do you think you “got it
right” the first time? Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
What
advice would you have for the new CEOs of the
timber industry that see even more change in
the technologies and in government regulations? Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
By
your own admission, you had the reputation of
being able to sell ice to Eskimos. What is at
the very heart of a salesman? There are many
technical and scientific people who have an
excellent knowledge of their work and even enthusiasm
for it but they lack that drive to make money,
that drive for success and recognition. What
made you work day and night, sometimes, as you
say, to the neglect of marriage and family? Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
In
your autobiography, you said that your Mama
would have made a good CEO of L-P. Why? Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
What
did Mama think about your new found wealth?
Did she have any advice other than “if
you never give away a dollar, you'll never give
away a million’? Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
Did
Mama have a sense of humor, a sense of playfulness
– or was she, by necessity, all hard work?
Answer
|
| |
|
Q |
This
interview is for a history web site. Henry Ford,
father of the assembly line and prolific inventor,
said, “History is more or less bunk."
Do you see any value in history when running
a business or making the decisions that a CEO
makes? Answer
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