Seagram

"It reminded me of Sumner Redstone’s fierce dictum: never cede or sell control. When you sell you give up being on center stage. Edgar’s uncle Charles, after they sold out to Vivendi, said, “All my life wherever we would go, when the plane landed there’d be a Seagram representative at attention on the tarmac to greet us, and we’d roll into the city royally. Now all I am is just another rich guy.” I was very grateful to Edgar for having given me the chance to build up his television assets and was really sorry we’d become estranged. Thankfully, over time we repaired our relationship and will always be good friends."

"Nevertheless, Edgar decided to put Seagram up for sale. He worried I might be competitive or would somehow stall his desire to merge with a bigger player, so he never included me in their secret deliberations. A few months later, to the world’s shocked surprise, it was announced that Vivendi, a French water company that was being transformed by the ferociously and irresponsibly competitive Jean-Marie Messier, bought Seagram for nearly $35 billion."