Putting a Spin on Class Warfare
By ROBERT FRANK, The Wall Street Journal
During a television interview this month, NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer asked New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine about whether hedge-fund managers were "out of touch with America," given their astronomical salaries.
"Some are, some aren't," said the governor, who made a fortune on Wall Street. "Good risk managers and portfolio [managers] are people that don't lose track of what the real world is about." Then, after a pause, he added, "I think some people, based on the size of the houses I see built and the automobiles and the things that people accumulate, there are some who might be drifting away from reality."
It was another example of how the heated politics of wealth and inequality are creating new public-relations problems for today's rich. With their numbers exploding -- along with information about their private lives -- wealthy people are increasingly becoming targets of ridicule, forcing them to come up with ever-more creative ways to defend their image in the media.
The problem is made worse by the growing awareness of inequality. (One typical recent newspaper headline: "Filthy rich own half of world's wealth," from the Grand Rapids [Mich.] Press.) The richest 1% of Americans now control 33% of the nation's wealth, up from 30% in 1989. During the last wealth boom, in the 1980s, the rich were largely celebrated. Gordon Gekko, the memorable tyrant of the 1987 film "Wall Street," declared that "greed ... is good," and CEOs proudly flashed their expensive toys on the cover of Forbes magazine.
People with money have become more defensive, with most avoiding any press (Donald Trump and Paris Hilton excepted). Some argue that their windfalls are reasonable and portray themselves as folksy, ordinary people. Many have turned to philanthropy as their saving grace.
A client recently described the media environment as "like Marie Antoinette's France," says Allan Mayer, a PR specialist who's worked with wealthy families around the world. "There is a kind of class warfare going on, and it's becoming far more noticeable," he says. "In the 1980s, every CEO wanted to show the press their new yacht or big mansion. Now there is a sense that maybe discretion is the better part of valor. Unless you're oblivious, or a complete megalomaniac, you know that while you're doing great, most people are not."
Here are some suggestions that top public-relations executives are making to their wealthy clients:
1. STAY QUIET
Hedge-funders have learned this lesson perhaps better than anyone. Never mind interviews -- just trying to get official photos of Paul Tudor Jones II or Steve Cohen is next to impossible. Hedge-funders, of course, argue (through their representatives) that their silence is for security reasons. Sean Cassidy, president of New York-based Dan Klores Communications, says he discourages his Wall Street clients from giving interviews since, "once you start granting access, it just fuels" more coverage of their personal wealth. "In many cases, our job is to keep them out of the press unless there's a business reason," Mr. Cassidy adds.
If a rich individual or family is forced into the public spotlight -- say, through a lawsuit -- they should do an interview but downplay their wealth as much as possible, some PR experts say. "The last thing you want to be today is boastful," says Marcia Horowitz, with New York's Rubenstein Associates.
But for clients who are out of touch with the rest of the world and live in a "bubble" of wealth and privilege, Ms. Horowitz advises against interviews. "Some people don't understand that reporters and their audience may not be sympathetic to the problems of millionaires," she adds.
One case in point might be an interview that Larry Ellison, Oracle's famously ostentatious CEO, did in 2005 for Vanity Fair on his 454-foot yacht, Rising Sun. In the piece, he complained that he didn't enjoy his first vacation on the boat. "I didn't know whether it was the scale or the newness that was the problem," he said. "Turns out, it was only the newness. It's really only the size of a very large house."
2. ACT MIDDLE CLASS
Since so many of this era's wealthy people made their money themselves, PR specialists advise them to play up their middle-class roots. Dress casual, they're told. Talk about your old Ford pickup truck, rather than your convertible Bentley, and about your "simple" life, even if you have a household staff of 12. For instance, both before and after her jail term, homemaking maven Martha Stewart made a habit of talking about her pets, her gardening, and her folksy upbringing in many of her interviews. She has downplayed any discussion of her multiple vacation homes and private yacht.
Ms. Horowitz cautions clients to use the "everyman" strategy only if it's true.
3. THERE'S ALWAYS PHILANTHROPY
If other strategies don't work, clients can always turn to philanthropy. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett may be the most prominent givers, but the Chronicle of Philanthropy says 21 people last year gave $100 million or more to philanthropic causes, about double the year-earlier level.
But with so many philanthropists vying for attention, it's harder to get noticed. Mr. Cassidy recommends that clients focus their energies on "one charity that is meaningful to them." What's more, Mr. Mayer warns that in today's polarized society, overly visible giving "can be seen as showing off."
May 18, 2007
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