📚 Roger's Highlights

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Over time, his comments drifted back into dangerous territory. The problem was that Mohammed bin Salman’s approach to reforming the country was infuriating him. Everything seemed to be done by decree; Mohammed only seemed to be paying attention to different opinions when he was locking up those who expressed them. Mohammed was trying to open the country up to tourists and clamp down on corruption, but many who questioned his way of doing it were hauled in by state security and ordered to sign a pledge never to criticize the government again. The key lesson for Saudis: You are free only insofar as Mohammed bin Salman decides. On the surface, Saudi Arabia seemed to be reforming. But its underlying problem—the fact that people had no say in their own governance and that their freedom was left to the whim of a single man—was worse. Ironically, Mohammed encouraged his closest advisors to be brutally honest about projects and ideas, praising effusively those who spoke up about what they considered to be an unwise course for the country, even if they directly contradicted the prince’s own views. One evening, he got into a heated argument with a minister about the size of government allowances for Saudi government workers. Mohammed thought they should be enlarged in the budget because the 2030 plan wasn’t yet at a stage where it was putting more money into people’s hands, but the minister felt it was financially imprudent to spend money in that manner. Finally, the weary minister told Mohammed that he was the crown prince, and it was up to him to decide. “If I wanted to use my powers to push the decision through, I wouldn’t have spent three hours trying to convince you, losing my voice,” he said. When the matter was put to a committee vote, the technocrats voted against Mohammed, and the budget item wasn’t increased. But such debate happened strictly in private meetings. Public dissent was off limits, especially when it came to the key reform plans.

Blood and Oil

Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck

Mergers and acquisitions can be very good or very bad but, on average, disappoint. The odds are best for combinations of related businesses done at reasonable prices. Philip Morris had more success with its acquisitions than Reynolds, which may be why it continued to diversify even as Reynolds was going back to basics. Spin-offs go against the normal empire-building tendency, and as a result are often fantastic opportunities for investors.

Big Money Thinks Small

Joel Tillinghast

Strategy almost always emerges from a combination of deliberate and unanticipated opportunities. What’s important is to get out there and try stuff until you learn where your talents, interests, and priorities begin to pay off. When you find out what really works for you, then it’s time to flip from an emergent strategy to a deliberate one.

How Will You Measure Your Life?

Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon

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