WEBVTT - Leonard Lauder

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<v Speaker 1>Leonard Lauder transformed his mother's small business into the global

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<v Speaker 1>beauty giant Estate Lauder. He also built one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most enviable cubist art collections in the world, valued over

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<v Speaker 1>a billion dollars. On this episode appeared up here, I

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<v Speaker 1>speak with Leonard about his experience in the beauty business,

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<v Speaker 1>about his art collection, and also about his philanthropy in

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<v Speaker 1>breast cancer and Alzheimer's research. So at the beginning of

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<v Speaker 1>this conversation I should point out to people that Leonard

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<v Speaker 1>has recently written a book called The Company I Keep,

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<v Speaker 1>My Life in Beauty. It's an excellent book about his

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<v Speaker 1>life in the in the world of beauty. So let's

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<v Speaker 1>go back to the very beginning. You were born in

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<v Speaker 1>New York City. Absolutely, Now, your mother is State Lauder,

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<v Speaker 1>but that was not her um name when she was born.

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<v Speaker 1>Her first name was not Stay, and her last name

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<v Speaker 1>was not Lauder. So how did that name come about.

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<v Speaker 1>She was Josephine Esther Lauder, and her and her pair

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<v Speaker 1>her mother was Hungarian and they called her St. E

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<v Speaker 1>s c Y, and so she loved that st better

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<v Speaker 1>than Josephine. When you were growing up, were you in

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<v Speaker 1>a wealthy family at that time, we were very, very

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<v Speaker 1>very poor. Remember this that this was the Depression. My

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<v Speaker 1>father had had a very successful business importing silk. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>silk didn't do too well during the depression, so he

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<v Speaker 1>his his company had to close down. And my mother

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<v Speaker 1>had always had ambitions to either be an actress or

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<v Speaker 1>to make people beautiful. And uh, I have a late

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<v Speaker 1>friend who had been a high school classmate of hers,

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<v Speaker 1>and he said she was always combing out of her

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<v Speaker 1>girlfriend's hair and making them look pretty. That's what she

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<v Speaker 1>loved doing that, and that became her advocation and vocation. Okay, Now,

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<v Speaker 1>when you're talking about your youth in New York City,

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<v Speaker 1>you do it in great detail in the book. How

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<v Speaker 1>can somebody remember things that happened eighty years ago? How

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<v Speaker 1>do you do that? David? It's easier to remember eighty

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<v Speaker 1>years ago than what I had for lunch today. I

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<v Speaker 1>understand that phenomenon. Okay, your mother is interested in making

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<v Speaker 1>people more beautiful, but I guess everybody likes to make

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<v Speaker 1>people more beautiful. So what is it that she did

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<v Speaker 1>that actually got her started in the cosmetics world. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>she started to sell the products that her uncle had made.

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<v Speaker 1>He was an Estraedian, and then she decided she could

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<v Speaker 1>do better, and she started making them in the kitchen,

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<v Speaker 1>and I, as a little kid, sitting in my high chair,

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<v Speaker 1>would watch her make the creams on the kitchen stove.

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<v Speaker 1>Then as time went on, she would invite people to

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<v Speaker 1>the house to do makeups, and I would come home

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<v Speaker 1>for lunch. Every day I would sit in the kitchen

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<v Speaker 1>eating my lunch and she'd be next door making making

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<v Speaker 1>someone's face up. But she was a miracle worker. Should

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<v Speaker 1>anyone who who came in there would and definitely walk

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<v Speaker 1>away looking fantastic. So when you're in high school, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you went to which high school? Bronx High School or yeah, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a pretty good high school. But did you have

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<v Speaker 1>time to help your mother and father in the company

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<v Speaker 1>at that time? I worked very often after school every

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<v Speaker 1>day except when I was I was on the soccer team,

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<v Speaker 1>so when I had soccer practice, I wasn't there. But

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<v Speaker 1>other than that, I worked every afternoon. And did they

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<v Speaker 1>pay you or they just said this as part of

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<v Speaker 1>growing up. Well, if the fifty cents and hours paid,

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<v Speaker 1>that's what I got. Okay. So you then went to

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<v Speaker 1>the University of Pennsylvania, where you graduated third in your class.

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<v Speaker 1>So what was it that you took out of the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Pennsylvania that you were a good business person

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<v Speaker 1>or you were a good scholar. What did you want

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<v Speaker 1>to be when you graduated. I wanted to be a

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<v Speaker 1>business I told my parents that's what I wanted to do.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to be in the business. But my father

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<v Speaker 1>wanted me to be a chemist. No, thank you, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't want to be a chemist because I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>do marketing. Okay, So you graduated the University of Pennsylvania

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<v Speaker 1>third in your class. You want to be in business.

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<v Speaker 1>So in those days people would say, well, I guess

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<v Speaker 1>I'll go to Harvard Business School. So you applied to

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<v Speaker 1>Harvard Business School and did they accept you? I got

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<v Speaker 1>turned down flat and which was which was a rather

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<v Speaker 1>shock for me. However, I made lemonade out of limits.

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<v Speaker 1>I applied for the US Navy Officer Candidate School. I

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<v Speaker 1>was accepted there and that was the beginning of my

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<v Speaker 1>PhD in leadership and it's the best thing I ever did.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you ever thought about how much more successful

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<v Speaker 1>your life could have been had you gotten into Harvard

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<v Speaker 1>busin of school, I wish the people at Harvard would know.

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<v Speaker 1>I would like to send them a thank you note

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<v Speaker 1>for what they did to Okay, so you go into

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S. Navy um where there are a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of uh, you know, young Jewish boys from the University

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<v Speaker 1>of Pennsylvania in the Navy with you. When I went

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<v Speaker 1>into the navy, Uh, my father said, you know, there's

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<v Speaker 1>no Jews in the Navy. I said, Okay, I know

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<v Speaker 1>that too. But that was that was good. That was

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<v Speaker 1>the way the United States was. The Jews are in

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<v Speaker 1>the minority. Everyone. Everyone was a minority then. But it

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<v Speaker 1>was fascinating because I grew up, in my view, at

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<v Speaker 1>the right time to grow up and learn. You you

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<v Speaker 1>don't grow up if you grew up in prosperity. You

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<v Speaker 1>don't understand how to fight. Part. I had a fight. Part.

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<v Speaker 1>So one of your activities in the Navy is running

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<v Speaker 1>the commissary on the boat you're on or a ship

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<v Speaker 1>you're on. So how did you manage to make that

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<v Speaker 1>a very profitable business sending you realize you were a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty good business person as a result of making the

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<v Speaker 1>commissary so profitable. Well, I became the ships star officer

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<v Speaker 1>aboard an aircraft carrier, an aircraft carrier had we had

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<v Speaker 1>three thousand men abroad the carrier, and so I had

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<v Speaker 1>to get everything that they needed and and and then some.

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<v Speaker 1>So I stopped to buy perfume that they could send

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<v Speaker 1>out as gifts to the parents, to their girl friends, etcetera.

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<v Speaker 1>For risk watches, toothpaste. Everything you wanted I had, and

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<v Speaker 1>I made it a point to have that so successful

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<v Speaker 1>that that supported the entire ships entertainment policy. After you

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<v Speaker 1>leave the Navy, you presumably could go do many things.

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<v Speaker 1>You could get a lot of business opportunities. Why did

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<v Speaker 1>you join your parents company? Because I knew I could

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<v Speaker 1>make it better. I had a vision of what the

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<v Speaker 1>company could be and would be, and I didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>to sell it to them because they I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>they could see the same thing that I saw. So

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<v Speaker 1>you joined the company? Was when you joined? Yeah, the

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<v Speaker 1>company has under a million dollars in revenue, more or

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<v Speaker 1>less dollars? Right? What was your job? Did you say

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<v Speaker 1>to your mother and father, guess what I'd like to

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<v Speaker 1>be the CEO. I'd like to be the CFO. What

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<v Speaker 1>was the job you actually had? My job description was son.

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<v Speaker 1>So I've always wondered when when you're in business with

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<v Speaker 1>your parents, do you do you call your your boss

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<v Speaker 1>mom or do you call her estay? I would call

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<v Speaker 1>her mom. However I would always address her in front

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<v Speaker 1>of other people as Mrs Lauder added respect and it worked.

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<v Speaker 1>It worked real look Um, they had trust in me

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<v Speaker 1>from way back. They said, oh, anything that Letton wants

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<v Speaker 1>to do, he can do. So your job was basically

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<v Speaker 1>everything that your mother and father didn't want to do,

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<v Speaker 1>and your mother was became the symbol of the company,

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<v Speaker 1>really was the face of the company. Is that right?

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<v Speaker 1>They she did everything, my father did everything, But I'm

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<v Speaker 1>as the one who sort of brought it together, and

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<v Speaker 1>my my vision was make her famous. Everything that I

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<v Speaker 1>could do to make her famous was a step in

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<v Speaker 1>the right direction, and she became world famous because of that.

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<v Speaker 1>What did you do to convince people that your mother's

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<v Speaker 1>products or your company's products were better than the competitors?

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<v Speaker 1>But two days. Firstly, she created the idea of giving

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<v Speaker 1>gifts away. At the beginning, she would give send out

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<v Speaker 1>a car a postcard, say bring this card into the

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<v Speaker 1>such and such a store and we'll give you a

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<v Speaker 1>free lipstick, or your free this or free that. Then

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<v Speaker 1>she built it up later on to say would give

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<v Speaker 1>you if you buy something, we'll give you a gift.

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<v Speaker 1>That that that was magic in those days. It was

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<v Speaker 1>really magic now when I tried to. When I became

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<v Speaker 1>I took over the sales area. In fact, as I

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<v Speaker 1>took over everything. I remember visiting the buyer of a

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<v Speaker 1>major department store. He wouldn't look at me, he kept

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<v Speaker 1>his back to me, cleaning his nails, and finally I

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<v Speaker 1>said to him, I think I can do great things

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<v Speaker 1>for you. I can, I can make you a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money. And he turned her and said, how can

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<v Speaker 1>you do that? And then we were off and running

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<v Speaker 1>from there. So I was able to think of the

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<v Speaker 1>ideas necessary to make a hint and make a big

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<v Speaker 1>splash no matter where we were. So, at what point

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<v Speaker 1>did you realize the company was actually gonna be successful

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<v Speaker 1>in the sense that it was going to survive. Did

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<v Speaker 1>you always think that it was going to become a giant,

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<v Speaker 1>gigantic global company or did you have offers to sell

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<v Speaker 1>the company at some point when it's small and you

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<v Speaker 1>thought of not doing that. Well, my mother came one

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<v Speaker 1>day when I was in high school, saying, Charles Revson

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<v Speaker 1>offered me a billion dollars, but I turned it down

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<v Speaker 1>because I wanted to have the business feel. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>very grateful for that. Uh. I knew that we were

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<v Speaker 1>en route and we're out of the woods at the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of nineteen uh seventy, and by that time the

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<v Speaker 1>company was in demand and I was then able to

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<v Speaker 1>turn around and focus on what we could do in

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<v Speaker 1>the future. Was there something about the products that were

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<v Speaker 1>better than the others? Do you try to make yours, say,

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<v Speaker 1>higher level, higher cost kind of products so that gives

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<v Speaker 1>it more prestige. They were much better products. They're expensive

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<v Speaker 1>and very very very good for the customers. Uh. Look,

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<v Speaker 1>at the beginning, we never advertised what what did we do?

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<v Speaker 1>We gave up samples, and gave up samples that were

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<v Speaker 1>large enough. If if you give a customer a sample

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<v Speaker 1>of a product and they like it, and they come

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<v Speaker 1>back and buy it again and again again, that's the

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<v Speaker 1>phillis of Bicious. So it was years before you even

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<v Speaker 1>started to advertise. Now, the brand that you had was

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<v Speaker 1>called stay Lauder. At some point you or somebody, I

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<v Speaker 1>think it was you, came up with the idea of

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<v Speaker 1>having a sort of competing brand called clinique. Right, So

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<v Speaker 1>what was the idea of building a product with a

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<v Speaker 1>different brand name that was competing with and effect your

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<v Speaker 1>other brand. By the time I started to work on

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<v Speaker 1>a clinique, which is in the late sixties, est Loader

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<v Speaker 1>was very successful by the time, and our customers were saying, look,

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<v Speaker 1>you've only grew intent this year. We need more, we

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<v Speaker 1>need more. I didn't want to push est Lauder into

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<v Speaker 1>a way of over promoting the brand because I knew

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<v Speaker 1>what I wanted to do. So yes, I said, if

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to compete with st Loader, what would I do?

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<v Speaker 1>And that became the click. You know, Uh, it takes

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<v Speaker 1>a thief to catch a thief. Remember the movie with

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<v Speaker 1>with Carry Grant. It takes a thief. It takes a

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<v Speaker 1>thief to catch a thief. Now, when I go into

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<v Speaker 1>a department store, and I can't say I'm the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>shopper in department stores in the Western world, but when

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<v Speaker 1>I do go in, uh, usually on the first floor

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<v Speaker 1>right to your right, you smell some nice fragrances and

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<v Speaker 1>perfumes and so forth. And I always said to myself,

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<v Speaker 1>is that because uh, these products are are kind of

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<v Speaker 1>leaking out of the bottle or something like that. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I thought they were air tight packaging. But

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<v Speaker 1>now in your book you kind of say, well, you

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<v Speaker 1>spray it around a little bit to attract people. Is

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<v Speaker 1>that right? Around? Springing straight? So it's very important, as

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<v Speaker 1>you point out in your book, to be at the

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<v Speaker 1>right location, and that you and your competitors, according to

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<v Speaker 1>your book, would kind of spar over who was going

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<v Speaker 1>to be in the right location in the department store.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that right? That's right. But that's why I said

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<v Speaker 1>to you that the main thing we were watching for

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<v Speaker 1>and doing was growth, because every department store in the

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<v Speaker 1>nation was built not just on the profits that they made,

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<v Speaker 1>but on the growth percentage. And I made it a

0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.640
<v Speaker 1>point that we would drive the business, our business faster

0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:22.600
<v Speaker 1>than any other store, any of the brand, of any

0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.359
<v Speaker 1>time in the store. So if the store had say

0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.480
<v Speaker 1>a ten percent increase, I wanted to have the increase.

0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.160
<v Speaker 1>If they had twenty, I wanted to have thirty. And

0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.360
<v Speaker 1>I always wanted to have a bigger increase than the

0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:39.080
<v Speaker 1>whole store would have. When that happened, I would get

0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.720
<v Speaker 1>all the support in the world. Now, if I would

0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:43.760
<v Speaker 1>go into a drug store and say I want to

0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.160
<v Speaker 1>buy an estate, law or product, I wouldn't be able

0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:48.480
<v Speaker 1>to find it. You tried very hard to not go

0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.560
<v Speaker 1>into drug stores and compete with people at the lower

0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.720
<v Speaker 1>price range. Is that right? And the reason why is

0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.120
<v Speaker 1>it makes people think and I guess it works that

0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.880
<v Speaker 1>your product is um more upscale, prestigious product. Well, it's

0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.960
<v Speaker 1>it's more than that though. Remember I just mentioned growth.

0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:10.040
<v Speaker 1>If you have one department store, and up and down

0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.240
<v Speaker 1>the main street there two or three or four drug

0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:18.600
<v Speaker 1>stores there. If you divide the business between the between everyone,

0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.840
<v Speaker 1>you will not have the growth in that one store.

0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.560
<v Speaker 1>By giving the the department store the growth at the beginning,

0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.880
<v Speaker 1>they were they were so happy with with what we

0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.480
<v Speaker 1>were doing. They gave us a space and location in

0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.600
<v Speaker 1>the store, so they didn't do more. And so the

0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:41.840
<v Speaker 1>result is we basically helped the department stores grow in

0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.600
<v Speaker 1>that era. If it wasn't for us, they wouldn't have

0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.080
<v Speaker 1>had the same growth. So at one point, your company

0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:51.360
<v Speaker 1>is doing so well that investment bankers who are not

0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.960
<v Speaker 1>shy come to you and say, why don't you take

0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.280
<v Speaker 1>it public? It was a family owned company. Did you

0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:59.960
<v Speaker 1>want to take the company public? We weren't ready yet.

0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:05.080
<v Speaker 1>We really weren't because when you are a privately welcome company,

0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.920
<v Speaker 1>you can invest a lot of money and doing what

0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:10.960
<v Speaker 1>do you think is right for the long term, and

0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.840
<v Speaker 1>not have to worry about it. So a few moments ago,

0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:19.080
<v Speaker 1>we're talking about the launch of the Clinique. The Clinique

0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.920
<v Speaker 1>caused US millions and millions of dollars of losses to

0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:26.080
<v Speaker 1>get the brand started, but we weren't public, and therefore

0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:30.080
<v Speaker 1>we could simply launch it and get it started, and

0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:34.760
<v Speaker 1>and and it happened. Well, now today it's harder to

0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:39.160
<v Speaker 1>launch a brand, and and and since we're public, we

0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.080
<v Speaker 1>now have to buy brands rather than launching, rather than

0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:47.840
<v Speaker 1>created them ourselves. You bought one or two extremely successful brands.

0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.480
<v Speaker 1>You might mention one or two of your most famous brands,

0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.280
<v Speaker 1>and you bought, well, they weren't so famous what we

0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:56.200
<v Speaker 1>bought them. But we we bought a company called Mac,

0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:01.920
<v Speaker 1>company called Bobby Brown, public called Joe Alone, compan called

0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:08.000
<v Speaker 1>Krim de la Mare, and and etcetera. So we would

0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:12.120
<v Speaker 1>buy a company that had a ready started itself, We

0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:16.600
<v Speaker 1>kept the entrepreneur working with us, and and that one

0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:20.760
<v Speaker 1>hey aided the other, and sooner or later we had

0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:25.360
<v Speaker 1>a whole portfolio of grants that competed with each other

0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.280
<v Speaker 1>as well as competing with in the marketplace. When your

0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.480
<v Speaker 1>company did ultimately go public at the end of the

0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:35.200
<v Speaker 1>last century, I guess it was then it's very public

0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.280
<v Speaker 1>what your company's worth and what your own net worth is,

0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:41.320
<v Speaker 1>And was that something you kind of didn't really want

0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.000
<v Speaker 1>to have people know how quite how successful the company was,

0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.520
<v Speaker 1>and people now realize how wealthy you are. Did it

0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.320
<v Speaker 1>change your life in any way? It never changed my life.

0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.120
<v Speaker 1>But I'd rather have no one know if I have

0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.200
<v Speaker 1>any money, I collect art and give it away. I

0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.360
<v Speaker 1>don't need to show my wealth. I like to spread

0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:01.680
<v Speaker 1>what I'm doing to make the people better off. Well,

0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.600
<v Speaker 1>let's talk about some of those things you've done. For example,

0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.080
<v Speaker 1>as a young boy, you got interested in in postcards,

0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.160
<v Speaker 1>and then you later built one of the biggest postcard

0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.199
<v Speaker 1>collections in I guess the world. What was the fascination

0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:20.640
<v Speaker 1>with postcards postcards in those days? With a snapchat of today,

0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.679
<v Speaker 1>I have postcards, I say, see what lunch today? They

0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.800
<v Speaker 1>would mail it before ten o'clock in the morning and

0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.520
<v Speaker 1>it would arrive in time for lunch at whether we're going,

0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.880
<v Speaker 1>so we don't realize that this this was before the

0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:40.639
<v Speaker 1>phone was used all the time to swim before emailably

0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.159
<v Speaker 1>for everything, and so that I love the idea of

0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.719
<v Speaker 1>postcards because I like the idea of instant communications. And

0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:49.800
<v Speaker 1>so what did you do with your postcard collection? You

0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:51.200
<v Speaker 1>still have it or did you put it in a

0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:56.399
<v Speaker 1>museum somewhere? Well, I've given any to the Views with

0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.800
<v Speaker 1>Fine Arts in Boston, and a good portion of it

0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.840
<v Speaker 1>to to the Nori Gallery uh in New York City,

0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.359
<v Speaker 1>which was started by my brother. I don't buy things

0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.920
<v Speaker 1>to possess them. I buy things to give them away,

0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.240
<v Speaker 1>only things that doesn't mean any to make. So um,

0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.680
<v Speaker 1>one of the things you've given away is your Cubist

0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.320
<v Speaker 1>art collection, which I told is one of the finest,

0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.720
<v Speaker 1>if not the finest, in the world. What is it

0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.239
<v Speaker 1>about Cuba start that made you want to collect it?

0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.840
<v Speaker 1>And why did you ultimately decide to give this billion

0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.760
<v Speaker 1>dollar plus collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in

0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.560
<v Speaker 1>New York of Firsially, it's a protest gift, which means

0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.520
<v Speaker 1>it goes to them to find my passing. I've already

0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:41.560
<v Speaker 1>given them almost ever already I love the idea of

0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:47.159
<v Speaker 1>creating things. Now if I if I buy a post start,

0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:51.639
<v Speaker 1>it could cost me anyway anywhere between five cents and

0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.680
<v Speaker 1>a dollar or five or ten day. If I buy

0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:58.520
<v Speaker 1>a Picasso painting, I could pay fifty and a hundred

0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.840
<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars for it. So to me, I love the

0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.480
<v Speaker 1>hunt of the search, and then I love at the

0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:11.480
<v Speaker 1>same time the act putting it together for a museum

0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:15.320
<v Speaker 1>and giving it away. So every time I give something away,

0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:19.760
<v Speaker 1>I give them money to display it and do exhibitions.

0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.399
<v Speaker 1>So you're now one of the wealthiest people in the

0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.000
<v Speaker 1>United States, but when you're building your art collection, you

0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.480
<v Speaker 1>weren't quite as wealthy. So did you have to worry

0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.280
<v Speaker 1>about getting coming up the money to buy these Picassos? Absolutely,

0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.959
<v Speaker 1>I was in debt. I was up to my ears.

0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.720
<v Speaker 1>You've also been involved with the Whitney, and we're the

0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.080
<v Speaker 1>chair of the Whitney Museum of Art in New York

0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:42.200
<v Speaker 1>for a long time and bigger, the biggest donor. What

0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.280
<v Speaker 1>was it about the Whitney that made you so attracted

0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.960
<v Speaker 1>to it? I help. I bought thousands of works of

0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:54.440
<v Speaker 1>art for them, And I like making museums successful because

0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:57.880
<v Speaker 1>when I was a kid, three afternoons out of five

0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:02.200
<v Speaker 1>after school of I wasn't doing something else. I was

0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.720
<v Speaker 1>in a museum looking at things, and I love museums

0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:07.760
<v Speaker 1>and I wanted to make them greatly, greater and greater.

0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.879
<v Speaker 1>Let's talk him for a moment about another thing you've mentioned.

0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.719
<v Speaker 1>Your first wife, UM was very involved with breast cancer.

0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:18.000
<v Speaker 1>She had had breast cancer, and you and she put

0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:22.000
<v Speaker 1>together a foundation to work on breast cancer. Um you're

0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.080
<v Speaker 1>still involved with that, is that right? Absolutely? Yeah. And

0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:27.320
<v Speaker 1>your mother, as you point out in the book in

0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.800
<v Speaker 1>the latter years, suffered from some Alzheimer's and you've also

0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.080
<v Speaker 1>been involved with Alzheimer's research. Is that an important cause

0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:37.439
<v Speaker 1>for you as well? Very important? We my brother and

0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:41.439
<v Speaker 1>I both created the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. We're a

0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:46.359
<v Speaker 1>pure playing We just do drug discovery for prevention and cure.

0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.679
<v Speaker 1>We don't do care, we don't do anything else. But

0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.720
<v Speaker 1>the research that we're doing is amazing, and in my

0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:58.040
<v Speaker 1>lifetime we're going to have a prevention and a cure

0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:02.320
<v Speaker 1>for Alzheimer's and related diseases. So what do you attribute

0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:06.200
<v Speaker 1>your obviously sharp mind at your age and good physique

0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.000
<v Speaker 1>at your age? What did you do you exercise a lot?

0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:12.239
<v Speaker 1>How do you keep mentally sharp. What's the key? I

0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:16.320
<v Speaker 1>exercise a lot number one, and don't forget this that

0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:20.760
<v Speaker 1>everyone should know this. The brain is a muscle and

0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:24.680
<v Speaker 1>if you don't use it, you lose it. So that

0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:29.480
<v Speaker 1>each day I'm doing something not doing the courser puzzles

0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:34.320
<v Speaker 1>to activate my interest. We will read the newspaper, the mine,

0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:37.679
<v Speaker 1>and we'll discuss the matters and where's this leading to?

0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:40.240
<v Speaker 1>And I'll make predictions. By the way, I'm very good

0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.159
<v Speaker 1>about seeing the future. So I don't have my crystal

0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:44.800
<v Speaker 1>both of me, but I can lend it to you

0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.000
<v Speaker 1>from time to time, and I can see the future

0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.720
<v Speaker 1>and I and I work with that, with that knowledge

0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.480
<v Speaker 1>to help in all the things that I'm doing. Okay,

0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:59.439
<v Speaker 1>any regrets in this life story you've put together, anything

0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:04.160
<v Speaker 1>you wish you differently, none whatsoever. I really I love

0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:08.120
<v Speaker 1>every step along the way. I've never regretted anything. I look.

0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.560
<v Speaker 1>If you can't build your life based on what you're

0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:14.520
<v Speaker 1>looking back to, uh, you can only build your life

0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:18.120
<v Speaker 1>by looking forward to it to everything. Well, Leonard, thank

0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:20.720
<v Speaker 1>you very much for a very interesting conversation, and I

0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:23.359
<v Speaker 1>enjoyed reading your book The Company I Keep. Thank you,

0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:26.720
<v Speaker 1>David god bless you. Thanks for listening to hear more

0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:29.760
<v Speaker 1>of my interviews. You can subscribe and download my podcast

0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:32.560
<v Speaker 1>on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen