In exchange for their capital, I made a commitment to give them the best return possible on their investment. That was my primary obligation. Nothing… - Sam Zell

I put up virtually no capital, just a limited guarantee that I’d feed the deficit of the loan if necessary to keep it current over a three-year period, which was how long I thought it would take for the market’s supply/demand equilibrium to return. It worked because the lenders’ only alternative was to take back the assets, which meant taking over management — something they did not want to do. They had no structure in place to manage all those buildings. We did. We were ready. There was so much supply and opportunity we branched out from apartments into retail and office buildings. Between 1974 and 1977, we bought roughly $4 billion in assets with $1 down and a hope certificate.

I’ve spent my whole career challenging conventional wisdom and creating my own playbook. You can’t do that unless you understand the rules of the game and play well within the lines.

the book Zeckendorf: The Autobiography of the Man who Played a Real-Life Game of Monopoly and Won the Largest Real Estate Empire in History.