Jim Robinson’s alarm grew as he read a copy of Johnson’s management agreement for the first time Monday afternoon. It was worse than he had feared: the veto, the free ride, the incredible total all bothered him. But what worried the chairman of American Express most was what Wall Streeters called the “cosmetics” of the deal: From a public point of view—and Robinson had no doubt the document would ultimately be disclosed—the agreement simply looked awful. In a reporter’s hands it would be turned into a document of greed incarnate. To Robinson the prospect of seven men’s sharing up to $2 billion
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