Herman selling frozen food Hank Malon in the center
was a wealthy Philadelphian, who made a deal to lend Lou money. I warned Lou against working with this man. I don’t know why, but I didn’t trust him. He went ahead against my advice. Later, when the trouble started between them, Vic sued Lou. That is when I got a troubling phone call of my own; it was Vic. Vic said, “ Herman I made a lot of million- aires in my lifetime, and I’m about to make another one. ” I said, “ Who is the lucky person? ” Vic replied, “ You. ” I said, “ And what do I have to do to earn this great reward? ” Vic said, “ Vote for me at the next board meeting. ” I said, “ Well, Vic, I’ll tell you what. You can stick that million dollars up your ass. You can’t buy me! ” Next thing I knew, I got sued, too. The difference was that Lou had nothing to lose. His whole business was always in great debt, but I, by then, had two 7-Eleven stores. They weren’t fun days. In another instance, I found a wealthy insurance man from Wilmington, Dele- ware. I brought him to the plant to ask him
to consider investing. He liked what he saw and agreed. He made Lou an incredible offer. It was many years ago, but I still ponder this offer today. I had never seen this type of ‘big thinking’ before. I was very impressed. When Lou asked him what he had in mind, he simply said, “Is this a corporation?” “Yes,” said Lou. “Well, as a corporation do you have bylaws?” [He just wanted an honest partner] “Yes,” said Lou, this time with a touch of suspicion. “Our contract will simply be that you run your company according to your existing bylaws.” An incredible offer! I thought. Yet, equally incredible, and to my dismay, Lou turned him down. I don’t know why he turned him down but I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. Yearning to be back in business for myself, it seemed like a good time for me to leave. I began to make plans. I had known for several years that I needed to ‘row my own canoe.’ It was just a matter of timing. My plan was to leave National Food Marketing on a high note and start my own
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