Bull Street Read Free Page A

almost all he had lay ing around, and borrowed the rest to buy Caldor’s credit card receivables. After paying off his lenders in two years, Milner had netted $455 million. Jack and Mickey had propelled Milner into the big time. Within a year he bought a Learjet and apartments in New York, Palm Beach and Los Angeles. He moved his office to the penthouse of the Helmsley Building; the anchor of the 45 th Street entrance to New York’s power alley business district on Park Avenue. And that had only been the beginning.
    But now, this was the end.
    “I wanna do a deal on Southwest Homes,” Milner said.
    He saw Jack perk up across the table like a dog sniffing a bone. Mickey was characteristically quiet, eyes blinking. Milner sipped his water, swallowing hard without worrying about that crinkly sound he made. One of the keys to his humble roots that Mary Claire always cast him a disapproving eye about at dinner parties. He didn’t have to try to impress these guys.
    Mickey said, “Mind if I ask why?”
    Milner saw Jack look sideways at Mickey, as if to try to shut him up.
    “I don’t like the business anymore. Any schmoe who can sign an X on a mortgage application can buy a house he can’t afford.”
    Jack said, “Yeah, a real bubble mentality.”
    Milner nodded.
    Jack said, “This round of musical chairs won’t last very long. Better pick your seat before the music stops. Remember when the Internet stock bubble popped?”
    Milner felt himself smile beneath his hand, knew it was showing in his eyes. This was Jack at his best: always selling. Milner would miss Jack and Mickey in a way, but they’d become his chaperones on a trip to the dark side. Churning out deals together that just moved pieces around on the table; they were all making piles of money but not creating anything. He’d made a commitment to himself that he’d go back to building companies again, not this “financial engineering on steroids” crap the magazines lauded him for. Even that kid in the lobby only talked about his deals that busted up instead of built things. Milner looked over at Mickey. “Mickey, whattaya think?”
    “You want to sell it to a corporate buyer, or do an initial public offering?” Mickey asked.
    “Take it public—the IPO.”
    “The IPO market’s still shooting out deals like a baseball pitching machine,” Jack said. “And homebuilding stocks are red hot.”
    “Everything’s hot. Maybe too hot,” Milner said.
    “Yeah, white hot. All the more reason to unload a chunk of Southwest onto the public,” Jack said.
    Why did Jack make even the right answer sound like bullshit half the time?
    Mickey said, “It’s worth about $1.5 billion. How much do you want to sell?”
    Milner put down his fork, rested his elbows on the table and put his hand over his mouth, taking his time. He glanced over at Jack and saw him observing. Milner said, “All of it.” He saw the muscles in Jack’s jaw flex. Then he saw Jack inhale, sensed the animal arise beneath that bespoke tailoring. Okay, Jack—ready, shoot, aim.
    “We can sell 100%,” Jack said. “A number of 100% IPOs have gotten done lately. And with home prices setting new records each month, and getting a mortgage as easy as eating popcorn, the public markets are bidding up homebuilders’ stocks like crazy.”
    Milner said, “I’ve noticed.” He looked at Mickey.
    Mickey said, “In general, Jack’s right. But if you sell it all in the IPO you’ll take a major discount versus selling, say, half. If you sell it all, people ask: ‘What’s wrong with it that he doesn’t want to keep any?’”
    “I know. But I like the idea of selling it all. How big a discount would I take?” Milner felt his stomach tighten.
    Milner saw Jack and Mickey take time to look at each other. Milner felt himself smiling again. He had to admit he loved watching these guys, had since the beginning. Back and forth.Jack trying to urge Mickey with a glance and body language, Mickey considering