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involvement had to do with Canada and some cable systems CBS had in California.

I'm a member of an investment group that buys companies, and early on I had recommended that this group look seriously at getting into the cable business. Ironically enough, day before yesterday that group just committed $100 million to get into cable.

What is that group?

It's called AEA Investors. It's made up of about sixty to seventy retired CEO's who have put various amounts of money into the company and hired people who are expert in acquisitions to find things to buy, to develop those properties and either take them public or sell them, and hopefully to profit by that kind of thing. We buy companies and sell them, and it's an interesting group of the who's who of corporate life in America.

There was a big story on it in Fortune couple of years ago, and that's the only publicity that's ever been given to it. It's headquarters are over on 55th Street. I don't know how much they've got invested now, but it's in the billions. What each member of the club does is to say: “I'll give you a call on $10 million, and when you get something that looks interesting, you have the right to commit me to my share of that purchase.”

The only out you have is if the acquisition is a conflict for you. In other words, if I had been in the cable business in the same area in which the purchase was going to be made, I could have said: “I can't participate, because I'm already in that market and it's unethical for me to be on both sides.”