One Size Doesn’t Fit All
The recently published “Executive’s Book of Quotations” includes this bit of philosophy: “Hey, size works against excellence.”
Who said it? The quote, taken from Tom Peters’ book “Liberation Management,” is attributed to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, whose gigantic software company a week ago agreed to slim down a few of its practices in settling a 4-year-old federal antitrust case.
Old What’s-His-Name
Before he was Samuel Goldwyn, the late movie mogul was Samuel Goldfish. After he shed the name, someone remarked: “A self-made man may prefer a self-made name.”
These days, Hollywood seems to have trouble remembering that name, even though it belonged to one of its pioneers.
Last week, Twentieth Century Fox sent out an announcement that it was hiring an executive from the “Samuel Goldman Co.”
Likewise, a few months back a purported suitor for the MGM studio expressed interest by proclaiming that he might want to buy Metro- Golden- Mayer.
Merrill Lynch Coin Caper
As previously reported, revelations that 399 rare coins are mysteriously missing from a coin fund Merrill Lynch formed in 1990 with Los Angeles sports executive Bruce McNall have triggered a probe by Los Angeles police detectives.
Now Florida regulators are sniffing around as well, although they don’t appear to be aiming to find the missing loot.
A spokesman for the state comptroller’s office in Florida confirms that authorities started an informal probe after getting calls from two investors in the troubled fund, one of whom thinks the sales pitch he received misrepresented things.
The spokesman adds that the state has just started its inquiry by requesting materials and records.
Straight-Shooting Ad
Who is the mystery man behind the mystery gun?
A magazine ad in the Robb Report magazine for wealthy investors is soliciting the best offer on a pistol allegedly fired by outlaw Frank McLowrey when he died in the infamous 1881 gunfight with lawman Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral.
Inquiries to the number reveal only that the owner is a wealthy Beverly Hills investor who goes by the alias Lee Howard. To convince people of the gun’s authenticity, he’s including an affidavit signed by McLowrey’s late niece, who purportedly recovered the gun from a vault where it was placed after her uncle died.
A representative said Howard hopes to get six figures for the gun, adding that two recent films that show the gunfight may help spark interest.
Briefly . . .
Truth in labeling: The soundtrack being marketed for the hit film “Speed,” which includes only a handful of songs actually heard in the film, includes a label saying the songs were “inspired” by the movie. . . . Quirky Rhino Records in Santa Monica has been hired to consult fast-food chain Fatburger on its jukebox music.
