We all remember odd lines from long-forgotten novels, and mine is from In the Cut, by Susanna Moore, written in 1995. A private detective is chatting up a woman in a bar. She asks if he’s ever been married. He says yes, it just ended. She asks why. He replies: “I called the same number twice.”
This conversation popped back when I read that Edward Rogers’ secret plot to remove his CEO, Joe Natale, was foiled when Edward’s candidate for the job accidentally “butt-called” Natale, who overheard the entire conversation about the planned coup.
Shakespeare’s Richard III cried out: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” But it could just as easily have been Rogers’ Edward III bemoaning the loss of his throne because someone called the same number twice. How small things drive giant consequences.
With most big companies, a boardroom coup would mainly fascinate the business media and after a bit and once some heads had rolled, it would disappear. The Billeses. The Bronfmans. The McCains.