The Suite Spot
Book Nook: A White-Collar Thriller
The way Christopher Mason tells the tale in The Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby's-Christie's Auction House Scandal, the reader feels anything but sympathy for its cast of characters. After all, the shocking price-fixing scheme that unfolded during the 1990s at the two companies, which dominate the world's fine art, collectibles, and antique auctions, involved well-compensated, powerful executives secretly colluding to rip off their wealthy, high- society clientele.
A freelance writer, Mason conducted over 2,400 interviews, garnering insight from such major players as former Sotheby's Chairman A. Alfred Taubman and his protege-turned-archnemesis, Diana "Dede" Brooks. For example, Mason details Taubman's final meal--hot dogs and caviar--aboard his Gulfstream jet on his way to serve his yearlong jail sentence at a medical prison facility in Minnesota, while Brooks undergoes six months of house arrest in her tony Upper East Side Manhattan apartment. Taubman, who maintains his innocence, was devastated by the "evil" Brooks's testimony against him. "I'm taking her place in jail," he tells Mason. Meanwhile, their counterparts at the British art house Christie's, after being awarded amnesty by the Justice Department for turning over pivotal evidence in the case, continue to enjoy their lives across the Atlantic.
Grabbing a Bite: A lofty snack
The only time David Neeleman sits down on a plane is when the Federal Aviation Administration requires him to. Except during takeoff and landing, the frenetic CEO of JetBlue bops all over the Airbus A320 heading to New York from San Juan, where Neeleman attended a promotional event. He chats up passengers, takes the flight attendants' pulses, and passes out cookies and crackers. "C'mon, have some chips," he cajoles one passenger. "There's an extra seat," he points out to another crammed in between two strangers. "Spread out."
Neeleman's folksy management style makes him the most envied boss in the airline business. But he's also famed because his New York-based carrier is one of the few airlines that make money. Low costs are JetBlue's primary advantage. But while tidying up the galley at the back of the plane, Neeleman insists that respect for the little guy is the key to success. "I believe in positive spirals," he says, nibbling from a bag of Frito-Lay Munchies. "Treat people better, make more money, they take care of you."
The egalitarian streak extends to the passenger cabin. The entire crew--including the pilots and Neeleman himself if he has time, and today he does--helps clean the plane after a flight. And even though his own net worth quite likely exceeds $100 million, Neeleman swears there will never be a first-class section on a JetBlue plane. "I don't want to see someone going on the plane and walking past 12 guys who are getting drink service and making everybody else miserable." -Richard J. Newman
This story appears in the July 19, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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