A Billionaire at office

Sep 25, 07

The entire office was shoe shined. The facade of the building was polished up to the last corner and crevice. The carpets were shampooed and our office turned into a very workable place over night. Someone even remarked – ‘Whatever happened to your office?’ In a whiz all the extra piles of paper, boxes and materials were stashed away into a cupboard. All this was done because Mr. Maersk McKinney Moller was visiting. He virtually owns the AP Moller empire. Forbes magazine lists him as the 84th richest man in the world. His net worth is about USD 7 Billion.

Now his arrival in our office did give rise to some comical sights indeed. It is not everyday such important people swing by. So a lot of high level meetings were being held to discuss his minute by minute agenda. How would the introductions be made ? First name + designation or first name + last name + designation or designation + first name or designation+ first name + last name. Whew what a difficult decision to make! After much thought it was decided to keep the first name+ designation style of introduction. Of course his favourite chocolate and whiskey were flown in from God knows where.

A doctor on call was arranged. Appointments with the who is who of Dubai were taken. A lot of hue and cry was made over his visit and that did cause a lot of sweat to a lot of people. We did receive the much anticipated email of ‘Please keep your desks neat and be in business attire’ read 'Be on your best behaviour'.

So after a lot of ado the d-day finally came. It was such a comical sight to see so many curious people running over to the French glass window and peering to catch a glimpse of the Cadillac he was arriving in. It is a blessing that these windows are tinted. Else having so many curious people bending over to check out a car pulling in would be a cheesy sight. And yours truly was the first one to run to the window.

After a management presentation he was brought for the customary round of introductions. The man is 92 years old. He is extremely frail and has not got the best eyes or ears, however still insists on taking the stairs every time! If I ever get to that age (I am quite sure I won’t see it), It is quite likely that the concept of staircases will be redundant by then.

His grandson brought him holding his hand and he took personal interest in every introduction and shook our hands. It was a first for me to be speaking personally to a ‘larger than life’ persona. I have never spoken to a billionaire before. I still remember every word he said. He shook my hand and smiled. And I could not stop grinning from ear to ear. If I did stop grinning I managed to say – ‘It’s an honour to meet you Mr. Moller’. And he looks at me and says – ‘I cannot see very well and hence the close distance.’ And then after the round of introductions he says to us – ‘Safmarine is doing well. Keep up the good work! It is important to increase the bottomline.’

Then when we went for a group photograph with him. He was sitting down and signing something. So out of politeness we did suggest that the team would stand around the table for a group photograph. Then the man said ‘No I ll come wherever you ask me to, I just cannot change my looks that’s all!’ I just imagined what a charmer the man would have been in his younger days. And then after the picture he said – ‘Thank you for the picture, it was indeed a pleasure’. Gulp. I could scarcely manage – 'The pleasure is ours Mr. Moller'.

A Chinese proverb says – ‘There is a great man who makes everyone feel small, but the really great man is the man who makes everyone feel great’.

Money does not make a man rich, strength of character does.