Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Apprentice TV Show star gives lecture to students

"The Apprentice" co-star George Ross visited Yeshiva on November 21st and delivered a lecture to nearly 200 SSSB students. The topic of his lecture was based on his new book entitled "Trump Strategies for Real Estate: Billionaire Lessons for the Small Investor," which describes Trump's methods for evaluating real estate properties and his methods for initiating and closing a deal.Adjunct Professor Stuart Verstandig was responsible for organizing Ross' visit, and the speech was in conjunction with Verstandig's "Principles of Real Estate" Course. Ross, who is the executive vice president and senior counsel for the Trump Organization and the business and legal adviser to Donald Trump, spoke briefly about the show and then continued his lecture on his business methods. He closed with another hour of mostly business related questions posed by the students. He joked that any question was fair game, except anything relating "to Donald [Trump]'s hair." At the start of his speech, Ross said he has to make sure one thing was understood: "I'm not as short as I look on T.V." He went on to explain that 6'3'' Trump is not only much taller than he is, but also sits on a platform while in the show's boardroom, making the allusion that his advisors to either side are tiny. Ross then talked only a little bit more about the show, revealing that one week when he was announced as "away on a business trip," it was actually a cover for his Yom Kippur observance during that week's taping.Ross stressed the most important aspect of business planning is having experience and making smart decisions, especially with investments. He also gave some business tips of his own having to do with the current situation of interest rates. Ross' final business advice was that when starting up a business or making any type of significant investment, one should always use borrowed money as opposed to one's own. Josh Ross, the Sy Syms Coordinator for Special Projects, discussed the lecture. "The event, thanks to the hard work of Prof Vertsanding, was extremely successful. Mr. Ross was very impressed with some of the questions our students posed to him."Students also enjoyed Ross' advice for the business world. Aaron Ross (SSSB '08) said, "By using textbook theory and personal experience, Mr. Ross gave an intriguing lecture to help students form an idea of how to succeed in the field of finance."

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home