Richard Parsons met up in Hawaii with his old college buddies, who ribbed him for not showing any sign during his University of Hawaii days that he'd rise to international stature.
Parsons was a 16-year-old from New York when he arrived for classes on the Manoa campus. He played basketball for Coach Red Rocha, worked part-time jobs, didn't get too excited about school.
When I saw him for the first time in person, in our PBS Hawaii studios, he looked like he'd never left Hawaii. He was wearing an aloha shirt inscribed with the UH logo and was chatting comfortably about life in the islands.
As it turns out, he's been rather busy as as a lawyer, adviser to five Presidents and leader of huge companies.
He didn't need his latest job--chairman of the very troubled international financial conglomerate Citigroup, which has taken three federal bailouts. The fact that it is very troubled attracted him. He set aside retirement plans that would have put him in Tuscany, drinking wine produced in his own vineyards.
Parsons says he likes guiding companies out of crisis. Stress galvanizes him. He gets bored sailing in calm business-as-usual seas.
In Hawaii in April 2009, he was making good on a commitment he made to his alma mater to share with students, faculty and the public, in a special annual lecture series funded by Sen. Dan Inouye and his late wife Maggie.
He spent mornings on the phone and online with US Treasury officials and other players feverishly working to clean up the economic mess, and afternoons/evenings on his UH Manoa rounds.
One of his afternoon stops was with me, for a conversation on the weekly PBS Hawaii show, Long Story Short. We'll air it in two parts, starting tomorrow, Tuesday, June 23, 2009, at 7:30pm. The second part runs the next week Tuesday at 7:30pm June 30. (And yes, he talks about butting heads in biz with another prominent businessman with Hawaii ties, Steve Case.)
That's how I feel. Even if you are doing well enough to travel and never have to work again - you still have to keep your mind engaged.
Posted by: Christine | June 22, 2009 at 03:17 AM