William J. H. Boetcker Quotes

Edelman maintains a very conservative balance sheet. We do small acquisitions. This helps me sleep well at night.

Now, people when I say that look at me and say, 'What are you talking about, Joe? You're telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?'. The answer is yes, that's what I'm telling you.

Capital structure isn't an eyeshade economic thing: It's about your ability to protect your workforce and your service levels.

It has to be understood, it has to be measured, and the investment needs to make sense, but debt on its face is not a bad thing.

Keep your debt low, and ask, Can your operational expertise make an impact? Then you're taking away a lot of the risk.

What I'm concerned about is endless borrowing, which is going to compromise our economy not only today but in the future. Because we know the decisions we make right now really dramatically impact us in the future, and the debt is literally getting out of our control.

If you're running a business for the long term, the last thing you should be doing is borrowing money to buy back stock.

We've always been modestly leveraged, and we've never believed in a great deal of leverage on either our private equity business or on our investment banking business. And I think it really goes back to my uncle and dad growing up in the Depression and just seeing what happened to people who were overly levered.

Not so long ago, companies that borrowed lots of money were considered risky, appropriate only for daredevil stock pickers. Those with lots of cash on hand and few outstanding debts might be dull stocks, but they were at least safe bets for bondholders.

We have, unlike many of our competitors, continued to meet our various financial obligations.

We are borrowing cheaply because we are the best looking horse in the glue factory.

It takes some discipline and hard work, but relying on credit when things go wrong is a trap.

I do not like debt and do not like to invest in companies that have too much debt, particularly long-term debt. With long-term debt, increases in interest rates can drastically affect company profits and make future cash flows less predictable.

You could lose hundreds or thousands one day on paper and gain it all back the next, and it has literally no effect on your immediate future, provided the money you have in the market is money you're investing for the long haul (meaning at least three to five years).

I'm smart with my money, I invest conservatively. I don't mind paying top-dollar, but I don't want to get ripped off.

When I had money, I felt pressure, whether it was to invest it or do good with it, and I couldn't let it fizzle out. It was like I needed to prove to myself that I could look after it, only I did the opposite, but you have to take a chance in life.

Borrowing and spending is not the way to prosperity.

If it's hemorrhaging cash, you've got to do something about it. You can't live with your head in the sand.

If you have a lot of short-term debt, it means that all of that money can be demanded in a very short period of time. Technically, short-term debt means money that's coming due within a year. Typically, it means money that's coming due within 30 to 90 days.

No man's credit is as good as his money.

I worked for twenty-some years with no capital, so I never had any liquidity. Managing my loans alone wouldn't do it, and working hard twenty-four hours a day seven days a week alone wouldn't do it. You have to be properly capitalized.

If you're not staying on top of your money, you are putting your financial well-being at risk.

I have spoken about deficits, and I think deficits are important because they address broad economic and financial stability. We need to talk about that.

Many businesses fail because the owner wasn't willing to invest and wasn't educated on the difference between spending money frivolously and investing money into the business for growth, and the risks and rewards of that cash infusion.

I got told so many times I needed a manager. For a long time I resisted, and I finally got one so I can pay my mortgage, and it helped me from becoming a homeless person.