Teenage tycoon

At the age of 19, Paul inherited the vast empire of his father, Felix. When Felix contracted cancer of the liver, at stage 4, he told the 30-member board of Galactica Enterprises that he was bequeathing the helm of the company to his teenage son.

There were violent objections. For how could an inexperienced teenage boy, even if from the prestigious Weston School of Economics in London, run a vast, complex holding company with seven subsidiaries?

But Felix got his way. At the first board meeting, Paul smiled, cool as a cucumber, in front of a hostile board.

PAUL: (With unflinching authority) Meeting come to order, please. (The whispers die down to a deathly silence).

RICHARD: (EVP who coveted Paul's position). Aren't you too young to pilot this large tanker?

PAUL: Watch me, Richard.

RICHARD: (With polite irreverence) Your Weston credentials won't help you.

PAUL: Sure, my wisdom is still theoretical not experiential, but not for long. You just have to live with that for now, Richard.

ABE: (an old guard, VP for Finance, best friend of Felix) I strongly agree with Richard.

CORA: (VP for Operations, middle-aged but still attractive) So what do you preach, Paul?

PAUL: Hello, Cora. I'm glad you are one of the five female board members. This male-dominated board needs women for balance. Women are refreshing in a macho world. Women are often better in crisis management than men. I am forming a core group and you will be the crisis management expert.

This company will take the paradigm shift advocated by Steve Jobs, namely, "love marketing." Steve, who had no college degree, was booted out of Apple, which he founded, by his Harvard-trained board for his ridiculous "love marketing." After 20 years, the board pleaded with him to rescue the firm. He launched the bombshell iPod that once again rocketed the firm to the high heavens, based on "love marketing." What's first on our agenda, Nicole?

NICOLE: (VP for Corporate Affairs, the youngest board member, extremely attractive and an aggressive go-getter) Sir, first on the agenda is the merger of Galactica with Eastwood which your dad violently opposed. But now that he is gone, the pro-mergers are back. Charlie, can you expound on this, please?

CHARLIE: (an old guard on the board) In a few words, there is strength in unity. The merger means growth for Galactica. We need Eastwood's expertise to widen our product base.

PAUL: What do you say, Abe?

ABE: The issue for your dad was not growth or profit but corporate sustainability. He had the right, as founder, to keep Galactica pure. However, Galactica without a merger will go stagnant soon in my view.

RICHARD: The merger will make us the largest conglomerate on the East Coast.

PAUL: Size is not the issue. Let's not over-debate. Let's have a vote.

The vote, the second, was the same as the first, an overwhelming no to the merger. Paul had known this all along.

PAUL: Thank you for respecting my dad's wishes. Next on the agenda, please, Nicole.

NICOLE: Sir, the core group.

PAUL: Oh yes, I am forming a seven-member core group called Hydra, the seven-headed monster. It will be my alter ego. It will be the venue for me to rapidly shift from theoretical to experiential wisdom. Hydra will have the power to decide and report to the board. The members I have selected are, one, Cora, crisis management expert; two, Nicole, secretariat and research; pro-merger advocates Richard, Abe and Charlie. Two more to go.

RICHARD: You chose your enemies for your inner circle?

PAUL: I see no enemies, only friends who are brave enough to speak out, which I admire. I am hosting a poker party this Sunday at my house. The entire board is obliged to attend. Nicole, I want red meat, red lobsters, and red wine.

NICOLE: And red napkins.

PAUL: Great. The best poker players in this group, according to my dad, are Richard, Abe, myself, and of all people, Francesca.

The diminutive Francesca, VP for Public Affairs, rises and bows.

CORA: Why poker, sir?

PAUL: A good manager is measured by his poker skills — his ability to size up a situation, to balance risk versus safety, his knowledge of probabilities, his ability to assess opponents and bluff, all in a matter of seconds. To the best three, I will award $30,000, $20,000, and $10,000. (There is an uproar.) There will be a poker party every quarter. Unless there is an objection, this meeting is adjourned.

The board members gather around Paul, congratulating him. His enemies, the pro-merger old guards, become instant friends. He exudes total charisma. He uses the quarterly poker parties to achieve corporate harmony.

Galactica made millions with the measly investment of regular poker parties. Paul gained fame and was featured in The Wall Street Journal as the "Teenage Tycoon of the Century."

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