Up and Doing: Two Presidents, Three Mistakes, and One Great Weekend-Touchpoints to a Better World

by James Harmon

Overview

From championing developing nations to funding our carbon-free future, investor and advisor James Harmon reveals how markets can move the world forward by creating stable, growing economies and sound deals that promote economic development.

James Harmon has always had a passion for ambitious causes. As a banker, he successfully advised corporations, like Starbucks, and helped them to become cultural institutions. Dabbling in the movie and music industries, he found meaning in funding the art he felt would make people happy and add to the public good. His unique perspective on investment led him to the Clinton White House as head of EXIM Bank and, eventually, to Egypt, where he represented the State Department shortly after the Arab Spring. Still “up and doing,” today he cochairs the board of the World Resources Institute.

Not all of Harmon’s deals were successes, and he recounts the wins and losses in equal detail, exposing lessons learned, and even sharing a few farcical scenes featuring Washington’s and Wall Street’s most notorious bold-face names.

No matter where he is replanted, Harmon advocates for global change by examining the issues of our time, including women’s financial empowerment and the urgent need to fight climate change. He encourages our leaders to apply lessons learned in the private sector to the world’s most demanding challenges, from helping a local community to electing a president or bolstering a developing African nation.

Up and Doing presents a tale of the deals that made Harmon a celebrated figure in the world of global investment, and shows that the best way to do well is by also doing good.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633310544
Publisher:	Disruption Books
Publication date:	11/23/2021
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

JAMES A. HARMON is chairman of the Egyptian–American Enterprise Fund, a private corporation seeded by US government funds to promote the development of the Egyptian private sector. He is board cochair of the World Resources Institute, a global policy and research institution. Nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the US Senate in June 1997, he was the chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States for the four years that ended June 2001. Prior to that he was chairman and CEO of the investment bank Schroder Wertheim (1986–1996). He lives in Weston, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Foreword David Ignatius xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Prologue 1

1 An Interpersonal Edge 9

2 Westward Expansion 33

3 Montedison: A US-Italian Love Story 53

4 The Surprising Profitability of Music Publishing 73

5 More Fun Than Profitable: Making Movies in the 1980s 89

6 A Big Retail Failure 103

A Time of Transition 119

7 Reelecting Dinkins and Clinton 131

8 Rudderless and Leaderless 147

9 Saving Asia 173

10 Tyumen Oil: A Morality Tale 191

11 An Investment Safari in Africa 209

12 My Third Big Mistake 231

13 Decarbonizing the World 245

14 A Democracy Dividend for Egypt 271

15 Developing a Better World 295

Conclusion 317

Index 325

Notes 341

Editorial Reviews

"Harmon deftly manages the writer’s trick of turning his life into story. The tales of this one man’s astonishing journey are irresistible, riotous, resonant, heartfelt, and subtly revealing of where America has been and where we’re headed. I loved this book." —Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The One Percent Doctrine and Life, Animated

"While some would have taken their Wall Street winnings and coasted, Jim went to Washington, Asia, and Africa to help define a new frontier of investing. [He] could have stopped there, but he saw yet more purpose and impact to be made—with the environment, Egypt’s economy, and now this book." —Roben Farzad, host of public radio’s Full Disclosure

"Harmon finds that his financial expertise is vital, but he is convinced that what matters far more is his talent for building relationships—with Hollywood movie executives, Mormon businessmen in Utah, Washington politicians, Russian oligarchs, and Egyptian entrepreneurs." —Connie Bruck, staff writer for The New Yorker

"From billion-dollar business deals to pathbreaking climate change research, Up and Doing defies classification—much like its author. Jim Harmon’s inspiring book traces a career in the service of others and gives new hope for harnessing the power of economic development to secure a sustainable future for generations to come." —Andrew Steer, President and CEO, Bezos Earth Fund

"For those who wish to understand complex market dynamics and how investing has the potential to create positive change, Up and Doing serves as an invaluable and informative reference." —Sherif Kamel, Dean, the American University in Cairo School of Business

"Whether focusing on climate change, assisting or investing in underdeveloped economies, or just standing up to unfair policies and practices, Harmon proves again the importance of ‘doing.’ The candor of his reflections and the import of his actions will inform and inspire others to get up every day and go about the work of making a better world." —Ruth Simmons, President, Prairie View A&M University

"In a time of division and polarization, Up and Doing is a refreshing return to the lost art of relationship building. James Harmon has given us a playbook for transforming the world through the most challenging financial markets, but it’s more than that too. It’s an inspiring story of a wildly successful career." —Stephen Ross, Chairman and Founder of Related Companies

"An enlightening career account, personally candid and politically astute." —Kirkus

From the Publisher

2021-10-19
A memoir recounts a man’s long and eventful professional journey—first as an investment banker and then as a public servant.

Harmon displayed a rebellious streak as a young man—as the result of persistent mischief, he was “asked not to return” for his senior year at Hotchkiss, a venerable academy. But that spirit of independence became one of the linchpins of an impressively successful career as an investment banker: “When an industry or domain becomes unpopular, opportunities abound. When everyone begins fleeing, I’ve always sought to enter, and when something seems extremely popular, I seek opportunity elsewhere.” The author was a broker of major deals in music publishing, movies, and real estate and was a principal player in the management of Starbuck’s IPO. Eventually, he made a transition to the public sector, joining the reelection campaigns of New York City Mayor David Dinkins and President Bill Clinton. Harmon was appointed the president and chair of the Export-Import Bank by Clinton. The author lucidly discusses his experiences navigating turbulent times, especially the Asian financial crisis of 1997. In addition, Harmon served as the chair of the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund. He tried to infuse an ailing Egypt with investment dollars as well as some measure of economic stability, which he considers “the most daunting and important task of my career.” The author’s career, both public and private, was a remarkably eventful one that allowed him to consort with heads of state as well as captains of industry, giving readers access to an intriguing perch. He can be peculiarly idealistic—his contention that “smaller and lesser-known governmental agencies and departments are ideal places to forge change in the world” is breathtakingly quixotic. Furthermore, he can be touchily defensive about his record—his response to those more pessimistic about the present and future of Egypt is more emotionally acute than analytically thorough. Nevertheless, this is a frank and edifying peek into the intersection of commerce and foreign policy.

An enlightening career account, personally candid and politically astute.

Kirkus Reviews