He’s an inspiration for rich kids everywhere
Donald E. Graham admits with a smile that he is chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Co. because his family owns the business.
His grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought the Post in 1933 and his mother, Katharine Meyer Graham, ran it until her death in 2001.
Speaking Tuesday at the University of Kentucky, Donald Graham said he was once told by a friend: “Graham, your career has been an inspiration to boys and girls everywhere whose mothers own Fortune 500 companies.”
Grandfather Meyer made and lost several fortunes, Graham noted. “Fortunately for me, he kept the last one.”
Graham, who delivered the 25th Edward F. Prichard Jr. Lecture, also recalled a funny remark made by Prichard, a Kentuckian who was a close friend of the Graham family.
“Prich,” who was over weight and out of shape, was drafted into the Army during World War II.
“They are drafting down to the bottom of the barrel,” Prichard observed, “and now they are drafting the barrel.”
