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To triumph as often as he has, Tisch has thumbed his nose at conventional wisdom. He buys companies or stocks when they are wildly unpopular and shuns anything that is remotely in vogue. "I'm always looking for companies that have real value," he says, "companies that we would be proud to own." Says E. John Rosenwald, an executive at Bear Stearns, a New York brokerage firm, and a Tisch family friend: "He's not a herd follower." Last year, for example, Tisch bought seven oil supertankers for a fraction of what it would have cost to build them. He is betting that the distressed oil industry will eventually rebound. Tisch is self-deprecating about his financial ability. "I've been lucky," he shrugs.
As an investor, Tisch has a talent for controlling his emotions, which enables him to resist most popular waves of fear or greed. He can be utterly unsentimental when money is involved. Last year, for example, he sold off the company's chain of movie theaters, the original heart of Loews.
Tisch runs Loews with a firm hand. After acquiring a company, the chairman never hesitates to make his presence known. He may force out management and put in place his own deputies after the takeover. But once his chosen managers are at the helm, Tisch is not afraid to let them do their jobs. "Everybody has a certain pride in their work," he says. "I'm not one to try to rank qualities of people. If it comes across to me that a person is doing the best work he can, with good moral standards and good business standards . . . that's what I look for."
The Tisch operation is remarkably fat-free. Loews' Manhattan headquarters houses only 60 employees, less than .3% of the conglomerate's total work force. That spare staffing may enable Loews to move quickly when a good business opportunity is spotted. The chain of command is short, and word reaches the top quickly.
For all his wealth, Tisch lives relatively modestly and quietly. With Wilma ("Billie"), his wife of 38 years, he shares a Manhattan apartment and a suburban house in Rye, N.Y., overlooking Long Island Sound. The Loews chairman never smokes, only occasionally drinks and usually plays tennis twice each weekend. "He always wants to win," observes Investment Banker Bernard Stein, one of his regular partners. Tisch also enjoys showing guests first-run % movies on a full-size screen. Friends are devoted to him. Says Stein: "If I were in trouble and had to make a phone call, he's the guy I'd call."
A strong supporter of Walter Mondale's presidential campaign, Larry Tisch has a keen interest in politics and an eclectic taste in politicians. He has recently been host at breakfasts for Representative Charles Rangel, a liberal Democrat from Harlem, and the Rev. Pat Robertson, the conservative preacher and presidential candidate. Says Richard Ravitch, chairman of New York City's Bowery Savings Bank and former head of New York's metropolitan transportation authority: "Most people who seek the White House seek his advice and ultimately his support." Tisch was instrumental in helping preserve the deductibility of state and local income taxes in the new tax-reform bill.