Page 63 - How To Get Rich

If you’re careful about what you reveal, you’ll have more flexibility as
you gather more information about the contours of the deal.
In order to complete Trump Tower as I envisioned it, it was necessary
for me to control an adjoining site on Fifty-seventh Street owned by

Leonard Kandell and leased to Bonwit Teller, a dying department store
chain. Len Kandell was a shrewd real estate developer whose ultimate
desire was to own land in strategic locations forever. I tried to gain a long-
term lease, but Kandell was asking for too much in rent, and we were
stalled.
Meanwhile, during negotiations to buy air rights from the adjoining
Tiffany store, which would allow me to build a larger Trump Tower, I

learned that Tiffany also had an option to buy the Kandell property at a
fair market price. This was news to me, and a crucial piece of information,
but I didn’t let anyone know how important that news was to me.
I led Tiffany to believe I was interested only in air rights, without
calling any special attention to their option to buy the Kandell property.
They sold me their air rights and basically threw in the option as part of

the deal.
Then I told Len Kandell that I was no longer interested in a lease on
the land. I was going to buy it, using the Tiffany option.
Kandell didn’t want to sell, and I really didn’t want to buy. With my
new leverage, I suggested reconsideration of a long-term lease. This time,
Kandell agreed, and we quickly closed on a mutually acceptable lease,
beginning a friendship that continues to flourish with his heirs.

Don’t be confined by your expectations. Sometimes, what we think we
want and what we actually want are two different things.
On more than several occasions, I have discovered in the middle of
negotiations that what I had wanted was the wrong thing. Sometimes, my
negotiating partners have given me ideas I hadn’t thought of. Even

adversaries have given me new ideas. Sometimes, a big question suddenly
comes into my mind and I begin to think in a new direction.
Cut yourself some slack. It’s okay to change your mind and suggest a
different approach—as long as you haven’t made any commitments to the
other side.
Some people, while admitting I’m a good negotiator, have said I’m
devious. I’m too busy to be devious. I just assimilate new information