Page 54 - How To Get Rich

A year later, the marriage was over and he was going through hell.
When I saw him, he looked like a frightened puppy.
There’s nothing wrong with common sense. Be like Thoreau and
simplify.

Cut Out the Middleman
Wayne Newton is a great friend of mine, and he made a lot of money
over the years. Unfortunately, given terrible advice, he lost his money and
was forced to declare bankruptcy. Meanwhile, his lawyers were eating him
alive.
He called me and said, Donald, I heard you owed $9.2 billion to a

hundred banks in the early nineties and you never went bankrupt. How did
you do it? Because I just can’t seem to get out of this mess. My lawyers
are making a fortune and the banks are impossible.
I asked Wayne how many banks were involved. He told me it was
three. You’re lucky, I said. I had ninety-nine banks and I made a point of
becoming best friends with everybody at every bank. You have to do the

same.
I gave him some more advice, which he has generously acknowledged
in many interviews. I told him, Wayne, you are a major celebrity. Have
your secretary call the three banks and get the person who is really in
charge, not the figurehead, and personally talk to all three people. Arrange
a meeting with them, ideally a dinner with them and their families. Get to
know them. At the end of this period of time, they’ll like you. They’ll be

impressed by you because you are a celebrity. They may control a lot of
money, but they don’t control fame, and people are impressed by fame.
Forget your lawyers. They are never going to want to settle the case,
because then their legal fees stop. You must do it yourself. Call the
bankers. Become friendly with the bankers. And make a deal.

Wayne called me three weeks later. He’d had dinner with all three
bankers and said they were among the nicest people he’d ever met. They
brought their wives and children. Later, he cut deals with every one of
them. The banks were taken care of over a period of time, the lawyers
didn’t get any richer, and today Wayne is doing fantastically well.
You’re probably wondering how this rule applies to your life if you are
not headlining a major Las Vegas show. Here’s how: Wayne took control of
the situation. He appealed to the people in charge. Most of us need lawyers