Growing Rich - Arabictrader.com

ONE-ON-ONE
L. ROY PAPP
When I told L. Roy Papp I was flying out to spend the day with
him in Phoenix, he immediately replied, “What time does your plane
arrive? I’ll come pick you up at the airport.” I told him I could easily
take a cab or shuttle bus into town. “I know you can, but I’m offering,
and I’m going to pick you up. And if you can spend the night, my
wife and I would love to take you out for dinner.” It was clear Papp
would be a most hospitable host.
Sure enough, there he was when I stepped into the terminal. As we
drove to his office, he explained that he grew accustomed to picking
people up at the airport while working for the U.S. government in
Manila during the 1970s. Many of the representatives he was to meet
with would arrive on red-eye flights that touched down early in the
morning. They were tired and weary and in a place they knew nothing
about. The best way to put them at ease was to have someone greet
them personally at the terminal, instead of making them go through
the hassle of finding ground transportation to their hotel. It became
regular protocol, one Papp continues to practice more than 20 years
later. As I think he quickly realized, I was most grateful.
While pointing out his city’s finest landmarks, Papp shared that
Phoenix isn’t a very good place to be an investment manager, since
most folks here park their money in real estate, not stocks. Papp was
one of the first investment advisers to set up shop here almost two
decades ago. Until a large mutual fund company relocated its
headquarters to Phoenix in 1997, he was by far the largest player in
town. He clearly has a lot to show for his success. After having lunch
at the Phoenix Country Club, where he works out several times a
week, Papp took me a couple of blocks down to what he describes as
“one of the best apartments in Phoenix.” His nineteenth-floor condominium
rests atop the city’s largest residential building. It looks
like a museum inside, boasting beautiful paintings from around the