David Geffen

In my experience, there was never anything quite like the egos in CSNY.

[On being partners with Laura Nyro in Tuna Fish Music (Laura’s favorite food was Tuna Fish)] We became partners in this new publishing company.

HIV infection and AIDS is growing – but so too is public apathy. We have already lost too many friends and colleagues.

Why not blame the libraries? They’re full of violent books.

I didn’t really have any idea of what Hollywood was except that it was a place where the made movies.

Should I give up my career at this point in my life… and put all my marbles in Laura’s [Nyro] basket?

40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan…And now it’s the tallest.

I’m passionate about real estate and that’s what works for me.

The penthouse doesn’t have immediate conveniences that you would expect, but it’s a work of art and a crown jewel in the city. That was the intention, and who else could do that but Axel Vervoordt?

Put it up for sale at an asking price of $25 million. I first looked at Mar-a-Lago while vacationing in Palm Beach in 1982. Almost immediately I put in a bid of $15 million, and it was promptly rejected. Over the next few years, the foundation signed contracts with several other buyers at higher prices than I’d offered, only to have them fall through before closing. Each time that happened, I put in another bid, but always at a lower sum than before. Finally, in late 1985, I put in a cash offer of $5 million, plus another $3 million for the furnishings in the house. Apparently, the foundation was tired of broken deals. They accepted my offer, and we closed one month later. The day the deal was announced, the Palm Beach Daily News ran a huge front-page story with the headline MAR-A-LAGO’S BARGAIN PRICE ROCKS COMMUNITY. Soon, several far more modest estates on property a fraction of Mar-a-Lago’s size sold for prices in excess of $18 million. I’ve been told that the furnishings in Mar-a-Lago alone are worth more than I paid for the house. It just goes to show that it pays to move quickly and decisively when the time is right.