Early on a Wednesday morning, FT Alphavillers gathered to chew over events of the early summer days of July 2007. It had mainly rained – but that was not their concern.
They pondered:
- The biggest of the private equity triffids engulfing the planet went public – the legislators imposed punitive taxes with the promise of more to come. It failed to settle into its new home. Undeterred, its peers follow behind regardless.
- A hedge fund, with $26.8bn under management, is seeking a price tag of up to $20bn in its journey to market.
- Dictatorship was making a comeback – democracy seemed to be on the wane. Hand over your money and pay for one man to have power over “all matters requiring shareholder approval.” Elsewhere, oligarchy – “our principals will generally have sufficient voting power to determine the outcome of any matters that may be submitted for a vote.” Were the lessons of the twentieth century really that short-lived?
- It would, by 2010 they estimated, be impossible to stay in a hotel not owned by Triffid Number 1.
It was all very confusing.