“When a man with money meets a man with experience…”
A 1917 article by William D. Isham, credit manager of the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., explained about business partnerships:
“We have all heard of the man who went into business with a partner, he going in with the money, his partner putting up the experience. After he had been in business a short time, the partnership was dissolved, the man with the money came out with the experience, and the man who went in with the experience came out with the money.”
American automotive executive William Knudsen (1879-1948), who served as Lieutenant General in the United States Army to help build equipment for World War II, was approached by a senator who wanted factories in his district. The senator was influential and could come up with money, but his district was totally inexperienced with having such factories. “When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with the experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience,” Knudson is credited with saying.
American businessman Leonard Lauder said in February 1985, “When a person with experience meets a person with money, the person with experience will get the money. And the person with the money will get some experience.” Paul Dickson’s The New Official Rules (1989) called this “Lauder’s Law.”
American investor Warren Buffett also used the maxim, saying, “When someone with experience proposes a deal to someone with money, too often the fellow with money ends up with the experience, and the fellow with experience ends up with the money.”
Wikipedia: William S. Knudsen
William Signius Knudsen (March 25, 1879 – April 27, 1948) was a leading automotive industry executive. His experience and success as a key senior manager in the operations sides of Ford Motor Company and later General Motors led the Franklin Roosevelt Administration to commission him as a Lieutenant General in the United States Army to help lead the United States’ war materiel production efforts for World War II.
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August 1917, Flour & Feed, “Realm of Retailer,” pg. 16, col. 1:
The following article by William D. Isham, credit manager of the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., is a splendid treatise on the workings and obligations of a partnership. Mr. Isham has a thorough knowledge of his subject and an interesting style of writing. He is in much demand as a speaker before conventions of organizations of retail merchants.
We have all heard of the man who went into business with a partner, he going in with the money, his partner putting up the experience. After he had been in business a short time, the partnership was dissolved, the man with the money came out with the experience, and the man who went in with the experience came out with the money.
Old Fulton NY Post Cards
2 November 1948, Long Island Star-Journal (Long Island City, NY), “Going to Town” with Hal Eaton, pg. 19, col. 7:
ASIDE TO THE many, who’ve announced their intentions of joining the ranks of B’way producers, offering nothing but plenty of dough: The late William Knudsen gave some sound advice to a senator who was trying to get war contracts for several constituents. The legislator admitted his clients didn’t have any experience in making planes or ships, but had loads of lucre. “I’ve noticed,” observed General Knudsen, a captain of industry in civilian life, “that when a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience gets the money, while the man with money gets the experience!”
14 February 1949, Waterloo (IA) Daily Courier, “Strictly Personal” by Sydney J. Harris, pg. 4, col. 2:
Had lunch with a wealthy dilettante who has just lost a packet he invested in some Broadway show that went boom-through-the-floor after a few performances. I chided him for putting money in an enterprise he was not qualified to judge, and reminded him of the late William Knudsen’s crack: “When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with the experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience.”
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The Appraisal Journal
American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers.
Volumes 17-18
1949
Pg. 182:
When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with the experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience. —WILLIAM KNUDSEN
10 September 1951, Idaho Statesman (Boise, ID), “Good Morning” by Malcolm Bingay, pg. 4, col. 2:
William S. Knudsen, greatest of production masters, performed the miracle of integrating all the factories of the nation in one vast machine shop to win two wars at once. But his greatest battle was against just such mad New Deal vagaries promoted for political pelf.
(...)
The first day that “Big Bill” took over the task that, through double-crossing, broke his heart and spirit, a Western senator demanded an airplane factory for his state, stressing his influence with the administration.
“Have you got anybody in your state with experience in making airplanes?” asked Knudsen.
“No,” the senator said, “but we’ll raise the money and hire men with experience.”
“I have noticed,” said Bill, “that when men with money meet men with experience, the men with the experience get the money and the men with the money get the experience. We need plans today, not next year. My answer is no.”
24 August 1961, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Capital punishment is nothing but murder” by Sydney J. Harris, pg. 4-A, col. 6:
A FRIEND OF MINE recently lost a packet his invested in a Broadway show, and his complaint that the producer had diddled him reminded me of William Knudsen’s wry observation: “When a man with money meets a man with the experience, the man with experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience.”
6 May 1980, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Tuesday’s thoughts” by Sydney J. Harris, pg. 4-A, col. 2:
WHENEVER I hear of two disparate acquaintances going into partnership, I recall William Knudsen’s wry observation: “When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with the experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience.”
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Swim with the Sharks…Without Being Eaten Alive
By Harvey B. Mackay
New York, NY: HarperCollins
1988
Pg. 132:
WHEN A PERSON WITH MONEY MEETS A PERSON WITH EXPERIENCE, THE PERSON WITH THE EXPERIENCE WINDS UP WITH THE MONEY AND THE PERSON WITH THE MONEY WINDS UP WITH THE EXPERIENCE.
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The New Official Rules:
Maxims for Muddling through to the Twenty-first Century
By Paul Dickson
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.
1989
Pg. 124:
Lauder’s Law. When a person with experience meets a person with money, the person with experience will get the money. And the person with the money will get the experience.
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The For-Profit Healthcare Revolution:
The Growing Impact of Investor-owned Health Systems in America
By Sandy Lutz and Erin Preston Gee
Chicago, IL: Irwin Professional Pub.
1995
Pg. 137:
It’s been said that when a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience ends up with the money, and the man with money ends up with the experience.
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Dollar Wise, Penny Foolish
By Siva Nara and Priya Raghavan
Woodbridge, NJ: West Pen Corp.
2004
Pg. 291:
If a person with money and a person with experience meet, then the person with experience gets the money and person with money gets the experience.
Anonymous
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The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations
Edited by Hugh Rawson and Margaret Miner
Oxford: Oxford University Press
2008
Pg. 95:
When a person with experience meets a person with money, the person with experience will get the money. And the person with the money will get some experience. —Leonard Lauder, speech, Woman’s Economic Development Corporation, Feb. 1985
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Monetary Economics in Globalised Financial Markets
By Ansgar Belke and Thorsten Polleit
New York, NY: Springer
2010
Pg. 195:
When someone with experience proposes a deal to someone with money, too often the fellow with money ends up with the experience, and the fellow with experience ends up with the money.
Warren Buffett (2007, p.g 22)
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The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing (Second Edition)
By Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer and Michael LeBoeuf
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
2014
Pg. ?:
To quote an old proverb from the racetrack, “When a man with experience meets a man with money, the man with money gets the experience, and the man with experience gets the money.”