Ownership and Insurance of World Trade Center

I had the

pleasure

of working

pretty much with every prime minister of Israel

from Yitzhak Shamir forward.

I said w- to myself, "Wouldn't it be fantastic

if I could own the Twin Towers?"

We got very, very lucky.

The governor of New York,

George Pataki, decided one day

that maybe

it would be good

to privatize the ownership of the World Trade Center.

So I got a call

from the governor's office, and they said, "Would you

ever consider

owning the World Trade Center?"

It was very, very good for the family, very good

for, for us,

and we were very, very fortunate.

On the morning

of 9/11,

I'm

getting ready, getting dressed

to go to the dermatologist.

I have

light-colored hair,

light skin.

The sun

is a disaster for me. I can't take the sun.

She said, "Okay, but you're going to the dermatologist.

You're going this morning, and you're not going downtown." Hmm.

We got very, very lucky. And I had

an obligation

to collect the insurance proceeds from the

policies.

A new governor was just elected,

Eliot Spitzer,

an old friend who I knew well.

And I said, "Eliot, if you don't help me, I'll never collect from the insurance

companies."

And guess what? He listened, and he said, "You know what? You're entitled.

I'm gonna get you the money." And in six months he got me the

$4.5 billion.

We got very, very lucky.