Frank Sinatra

"As we passed a huge billboard advertising a Frank Sinatra show, Sol – who was to address an international conference of casino owners and managers but had given little thought to what he would say – exclaimed, “That’s it! That is what I am going to tell them. Las Vegas has lost the plot.” The offending billboard that we’d just passed had announced: “Frank Sinatra – direct from his triumphant performance in New York!” “No one should ever come to Las Vegas from somewhere else,” said Sol. “They should only go somewhere after they have been in Vegas. Vegas used to be first in everything. Entertainment, hotels, gambling; now they even advertise that they are not. This is the fucking kiss of death – and I’m going to tell them!” Which, of course, he did later that night – expletives and all."

"Then there was Frank Sinatra. The singer not only owned a significant 20 percent of Warner Reprise records, but had— shrewdly? mysteriously?—obtained the right of veto on any sale of the parent company. Ratcheting up the difficulty of persuading Sinatra, his lawyer, Mickey Rudin, was not simply the singer’s representative in any negotiations but—shrewdly? mysteriously?—was entitled to receive 10 percent of whatever monies Sinatra received. Clearly, a deal would not be made unless Sinatra and Rudin were on board."