While I was unaware of it at the time, my real compensation for that job wasn’t monetary. It was learning about and getting comfortable with rejectio… - Sam Zell

This bit of hyperbole revealed a very important fact: At its heart, grave dancing was an opportunity to resurrect those assets deserving of a fresh start. It was a bet on my ability to affect a turnaround. And the low entry price paid for the risk I was taking to do it. Grave dancing involves confidence, optimism, conviction, and no small amount of courage. All the opportunity in the world means nothing if you don’t actually pull the trigger.

Find the NOLs, add profitable business subsidiaries, and, ultimately, maximize the value of an asset we didn’t pay anything for in the first place.

We believed the real money in real estate came from borrowing long-term, fixed-rate debt in an inflationary scenario that ultimately depreciated the value of the loan and increased the position of the borrower.