An Old-School Self Made Man

Really nice article about Lester Miller -- born in Brooklyn into a poor family and went on to make himself a multi-millionaire. From St. Louis Magazine:

Only Money
From prophylactics and toilet cleaners to white yachts and a white-tablecloth restaurant � the amazing journey of a high-school dropout who realized dollars were just tokens in a larger game

At 9, he�d stand over a New York street grate, watching out of the corner of his eye for a flash of worsted wool or shiny shoes. �My quarter fell!� he�d sob as soon as the guy was within earshot. �Don�t worry about it, kid,� the man would say, reaching in an exaggerated arc for his wallet. �Here�s 50 cents.�

At 11, he started selling newspapers�The News and The Mirror�outside Broadway theaters. �They sold for 2 cents apiece. People would give you a nickel and chase you for the penny change, and you�d try to disappear.�

At 14, he went to work in the catering business, and a $100 tip changed his life. One night a cop pulled alongside the small figure trudging through Brooklyn at 2 a.m. and asked just what he was doing. �Whaddya think?� he retorted. �I�m going home from work.�

Here's a story about his business style:

Another day Miller took a cab to the airport, and the driver came running after him, yelling, �Mr. Miller! You left your wallet!� �It had about $3,000 in it,� Miller says, �but what�s important is, it had all my ID.� He peeled off a $20 in gratitude, rushed to his flight and then thought, �That wasn�t enough.� When he returned, he tried to find the cabbie, but the company couldn�t help. A month later, he climbed into another cab and saw the driver he�d been looking for.

�What do you make?� Miller asked; on hearing the sum, he said, �Quit. You�re going to drive for me.� When he found out that the man, Dawit Ayalew, was a political refugee from Ethiopia with three children, he told him, �When I�m out of town, park outside the Ritz-Carlton; you�ll get fares, and you can keep the money.� Ayalew became so successful that Miller once returned home from a trip to learn that his driver was busy with another fare�in Illinois. Miller took a cab home, telling himself wryly, �Something�s wrong with this picture.� So he helped Ayalew get a loan and start his own company. Then, when it looked like the Ritz-Carlton was going to shut him out, Miller accompanied Ayalew to the interview and told the hotel manager, �Here�s a guy, he was in the sand four years ago, he came to the United States, he became a U.S. citizen, the customers love him, he should get the exclusive contract.�

The manager murmured something about Ayalew�s needing at least six cars.

�I�ll get him six cars,� Miller replied.

Ayalew, who now owns America Transportation and has paid back every cent Miller loaned him, still talks in bemused tones about his year as a personal driver: �He usually sat in the front seat, and he didn�t want me to open and close the door for him. I asked him, �Why don�t you buy a car with tinted glass?� and he said, �No, I want to stay low-class; the tinted glass gets attention.� Sometimes he�d go for lunch with his friends and come out with food for me. I said, �No, no!� He said, �Once upon a time, I was like you. I was a little guy.��

An American classic -- the kind of people that make America great.