When he was just a ruddy-faced lad newly graduated from Ole Miss, Jim Barksdale applied for work as a salesman for the first monopoly of the info age, IBM. Barksdale had an in: his elder brother and mentor, Jack, was already employed by Big Blue. Alas, the advantage proved to be short-lived. "I don't know if I can have two Barksdales working for me," said the sales manager who interviewed him.
"Well, then," shot back Barksdale, "fire Jack."
Today, 33 years and more than a billion dollars later, that quick wit and peculiar go-for-the-jugular charm are still predominant in the man...
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