Douglas

"In the 1970s, he had pursued a career as a civil servant to build a solid knowledge base, as he himself puts it. He worked as a controller for four years at LM Ericsson in Mexico and spent a few years at ABB Fläkt in Stockholm before being appointed CEO of Essef Service, where he did such a good job that he was offered to become CEO of Crawford Door in the 1980s. Then the Securitas deal became the starting point for Schörling as a businessman, when the civil servant was given the opportunity to become a business builder and owner. He was forty years old and was about to start his own business. Therefore, it was far from certain that Douglas would succeed in persuading Schörling to take on the role as CEO. This gave him a good negotiating position."

"During the Sushiya days, Douglas would order normally and joke around with another chef who was fluent in English. He was just one of the ordinary customers, but as Sequoia’s success grew, and presumably as his pocket deepened, he gradually began to exude an air of prominence. His laughter, which used to be “Ahahaha,” changed to “Wahaha,” and he seemed to lean back more as he laughed. Though he was wealthy, he would vocally exaggerate the prices whenever he looked at the bill, often claiming, “I’m the number one customer here,” and generally be very loud."

""The goal of the German-American billionaire is to preserve, revive, and rejuvenate the ‘cult brand’ Karstadt." The department store chain should focus on the segments fashion ("Fashion"), home accessories ("Living"), sports, and personal accessories as well as jewelry and cosmetics ("Personality") in the future. The restructuring experts have identified clear weaknesses here compared to relevant competitors such as Douglas, Peek & Cloppenburg, C&A, H&M, or Zara."

"Under pressure from Douglas to come up with something quickly, Gibbs wrote a simple draft report over a weekend in late March 1986. This proposed a Forest Corporation that operated under the Companies Act with staff who weren’t civil servants and that delivered a return on the capital invested.[38](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477308-556173400-38) The official report, delivered in mid-May, fleshed out these ideas further and, more radically, suggested that the company should be listed on the stock exchange with every New Zealander given shares.[39](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477308-556173400-39)   Nothing happened for a while, however, until the report was finally released to the public on the Friday before Queen’s Birthday weekend without any significant ministerial comment.[40](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477308-556173400-40) Since no one from the government had spoken to him, Gibbs feared they’d chosen to bury it. A month later, in July 1986, he came across Roger Douglas at the airport and grumbled that he hadn’t heard anything. The Minister of Finance simply replied, ‘Oh, just get cracking.’ Gibbs had no real authority, nothing had been announced, no legislation had been passed, but he resolved on Douglas’ nod to forge ahead and put his ideas into practice. He’d keep going until someone stopped him."