Secretary Office (1)

After figuring out the news about his family, Red Bull and Atari and making sure everything was fine, Simon could finally focus on the task of selecting future talents for his Secretary Office.

Some of the major talents he knew from his previous life were still underage or in high school, maybe not even born yet. Therefore, he had to focus on the talents that got famous in the 1980s or early 1990s.

Honestly, at first, he wanted to invite Jack Welch to become his first subordinate. Jack Welch was the chair and chief executive of General Electric (GE) from 1981 to 2001. Welch dramatically increased the market value of GE from $14 billion to $410 billion. He had a reputation as one of the top CEOs of all time. Fortune dubbed him "Manager of the Century" in 1999. When Welch retired, GE awarded him a severance of about $417 million, the largest ever at the time. Welch died on March 1, 2020, at the age of 84 from renal failure.

Right now, in 1971, Jack Welch was already an important member of GE and would become the head of this giant aircraft carrier in just ten years. Simon had no opportunity right now to be able to convince such a capable and ambitious person to join his team. That was a sad reality he had to face, he was simply too weak compared to a giant like General Electric, even if his companies' monthly profit was already close. But the sheer influence and power of the CEO of General Electric was simply unrivaled, a true behemoth.

After recognizing reality, he turned his goal towards younger targets. The first talent on his radar was the man that turned Cisco into the third largest company in the world in the 1990s, John T. Chambers.

Chambers grew up in Charleston, West Virginia, and attended West Virginia University, from which he received a bachelor's degree in business (1971) and a law degree (1974).

From the moment he joined Cisco, Chambers made it clear that he did not intend to let the company rest on its laurels as the world's chief provider of routers.

In his first five years as CEO, Cisco experienced a more than 10-fold increase in annual revenues. By 2000 the company was the third largest in the world. 

Apart from Jack Welch he was certainly one of the most important CEOs of the 1990s.

As he was only 21 years old in 1971, he was the perfect first goal for Simon, because they didn't really differ too much in age and he could perfectly sculp his business view like he desired. But he was not too young, so Simon couldn't change his character anymore. Forming the character of a person is incredibly hard, but simply offering knowledge and letting them gain experience is something Simon Smith and his companies could easily provide.

As John Chambers was his most important target right now Simon decided to visit him all by himself at the University of West Virginia. He rented a private Jet on March 6th, 1971. While on the plane he used the time to ponder about his possible next goals. Because John Chambers was most likely be used in his future Internet industries, he would need a new talent to introduce to Lamborghini and take over the automotive industry. Finding a goal with potential and the right age proved to be extremely difficult. Finally, he fixated on a legendary Italian CEO, Sergio Marchionne.

In 1945, when the region was occupied by the Yugoslav army, Marchionne's parents moved to Chieti in Abruzzo, where Sergio was born.

Marchionne was born in the Abruzzo region of Italy in 1952 and moved with his family to Toronto at age 14. He got his education in Canada. Marchionne attended St. Michael's College School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, before eventually earning a law degree and an MBA.

Simon admired the Italian Canadian CEO in his last life because of one of his most memorable citations he spoke during a graduation speech:

"While circumstances may change around us, values are not negotiable. Defining your values is much more than an academic exercise. It takes time and effort to clarify what you believe in, what puts meaning into your life and, ultimately, gives you integrity…. In the face of constant change, a sense of values enables us to be resilient, to stay true to the important principles in life that have no borders: justice, integrity, honesty, and respect for others."

As he had Italian ancestry, he was a perfect fit for Lamborghini. Of course, Marchionne hasn't received any major college education yet nor did he have any professional experience. But Simon wanted to find him and give him the opportunity to start and grow slowly with Lamborghini. Never mind, all of this had to wait for after he was finished with getting John Chambers into his pocket.

After flying 2 hours the private plane finally landed on the Pittsburgh International Airport in the afternoon. From the airport he and his entourage consisting of his secretary and some bodyguards used two cars and went on an additional road journey of nearly two hours to reach the University of West Virginia. West Virginia University was founded February 7, 1867, by an act of the West Virginia Legislature.

Simon was quite impressed by this University, as Jerry West, a current Los Angeles Lakers player, had graduated from there.

Finding Chambers wasn't all too hard for them as he would receive his bachelor's degree very soon anyways. He was already quite prestigious in his major for his knowledge and manners. When John learned that somebody was looking for him to offer him a job, he felt happy inside, but didn't really expect too much because he wanted to finish his law degree before joining the job market.

But when he realized that the young founder of Atari and Red Bull was standing in front of him, two companies that were rapidly gaining fame all around the United States and eventually the world, he could no longer keep his calm. The 70s were not quite the years of rapid internet information age, but many famous newspapers, including the New York Times, already wrote many articles about the young entrepreneur genius that grew up and lived in their city.

Many young business talents around the United States listed the new and upcoming companies Red Bull and Atari as a possible entry into their working life with a rapid road to rise in the ranks.