Billie

"but by the time he left there were twenty-five. Wallace spent a great deal of time with Harrison and Billie while in Saint John. The topic of conversation, more often than not, was how to go into business for themselves. They both wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps. They looked at different possibilities – opening a hardware store, a dry cleaning business, and even buying a seat on the Toronto or Montreal Exchange. They could not, however, settle on what direction they should take. Harrison’s decision to throw caution to the wind and quit Irving Oil forced the issue for him. After all, start- ing his own business had always been his overriding objective."

"For Tisch, the stewardship of wealth—maintaining the delicate balance between protecting it and making it grow—was the point, not personal wealth. Stunning successes delighted him, and they hap- pened often enough that stunning failures failed to elicit much more than a shrug. His sense of self-worth wasn’t tied up in the bottom line of each and every deal, nor did he share his fellow billionaires’ ap- petites for lavish life-styles. Spending a fortune was anathema to his mission as the enemy of corporate waste. He and Billie lived well below their means. They seldom indulged in lavish vacations. They avoided the trappings of obvious wealth. No Rolls Royce. No personal aircraft. No trophy real estate or vacation villa. No South Sea islands. No high-priced decorating binges."