Speaking of U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue, the New York Times profiled him and shared this story of what motivates the man who compromised “the voice of business”:
BACK in the 1990s when Thomas J. Donohue was president of the American Trucking Associations, a subordinate raised a question at a staff meeting.
Some of the association’s members, the aide said, wondered whether it was really necessary for the group’s president to fly on a private jet.
Mr. Donohue, a scrappy Irish-American born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, turned to his chief of staff and asked how many seats his jet had. “Well, eight, sir,” the aide said. “Tomorrow morning I want you to call and get a 12-seater,” Mr. Donohue shot back. The subject never came up again.
Mr. Donohue, 71, now the president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, still flies on private jets and enjoys a chauffeur-driven car in addition to his $3 million annual salary.
Hear that, haters? Don’t ask if it’s “necessary” for him to have a private jet! He is Tom Donohue; the question answers itself.
Or as Patrick Swayze might have put it: nobody puts Tommy in a corner!