The Reward of Taking a Chance

On March 1, 1968, my law partner, Jim, and I formed a company to invest in real estate. I went out and agreed to buy houses and apartment buildings, promising down payments of $5,000 or $25,000 in thirty to sixty days. There was just one small problem. Neither Jim nor I had any money. Somehow we always came up with the down payment, but those were scary times.

After two or three years of watching me repeatedly put our financial lives at the precipice, Jim cornered me in my office one afternoo...