Nov 1999
Well, fellow classmates, I feel like a columnist on deadline without an idea. There is little news to report this month. I suppose hurricanes, droughts, earthquakes, and vacations may be responsible, but you have been uncharacteristically noncommunicative.
Therefore, like that columnist — or an unprepared Eli — I must rely on my wits and peripheral sources. I shall segue into one with the news — circulated via class e-mail — that our class gift exceeded Harvard ’69’s 30th Reunion gift by about $4 million. While it would be rude to try to explain our superior performance, I can only say that Yale’s total would have been even higher had I not lost that $800 on the ’68 game and invested it in Microsoft.
(Now comes the transition.) There are indications, however, that the 35th class gift will be even larger. I refer to an article in the New York Post, forwarded to me by an alert reader, reporting that Reed Hundt, class quipster and former FCC chairman, has parlayed several corporate directorships into holdings of $20 million. The September 14th article by Allyson Lieberman analyzes SEC filings, which show that Hundt received stock options in hot telecommunications companies whose boards he joined after leaving government service. Those options have increased dramatically in value, although the article indicated that “’lock-up’ provisions bar him from selling them any time soon.” How about by 2004? Anyway, we should all congratulate Reed on his good fortune, although we are certain he would say it’s never been about the money.
Speaking of politics, I probably am not the first to note that the three most viable presidential candidates are graduates of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. And which one would you have wanted to party with? By the time you read this, some of our classmates will have gathered at the mini-reunion in Oregon organized by Bob Shlachter, and I hope to have a full report to pass along in my next note. But in case I don’t, please write with news. Even summer vacation reports would be welcome.
Until next time.