Going Bananas, continued

October 14, 2009

In 1932, the largest United Fruit stockholder was Bank of Boston and its president was Daniel Wing. At a directors’ meeting that year, Sam loudly voiced his dissatisfaction with United Fruit and its financial results. Wing made the fateful mistake of saying to Sam, “Unfortunately, Mr. Zemurray, I can’t understand a word of what you say”. This angered and infuriated the English-language-challenged Sam and incited him to act.

One by one, Sam convinced investors and stockholders that United Fruit was mismanaged, and that he was the man to fix it. By the next board meeting, Sam had gathered enough support to vote out the existing management team. Sam turned the company around in the depth of the Great Depression by bringing in other experienced banana people and being innovative and agile. Within a year, United Fruit was profitable once again. Having won in the boardroom, Sam the Banana Man was given a new moniker. He was now also known as “the fish who swallowed the whale”! Samuel Zemurray, the quintessential immigrant entrepreneur, had succeeded again.

Sam later went on to take on both the United States and Honduran governments when they attempted to impose heavy taxes on his bananas, and to provide two ships for the Cuban Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and was involved in the development of Central America. Like the movie character Forrest Gump, Sam seemed to be everywhere history was being made in his lifetime. Later in 1961, he died at the age of 84.

What can we take away from the story of Sam the Banana Man? Sam worked hard and smart, was passionate about his business, and hired great people. He stuck to his core business, yet thought outside of the box. Perhaps most importantly, Sam knew when to quit talking and take immediate action. We hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about the banana, the fruit that you now know is anything but mundane!

Contact Tortus today to meet with one of our technology strategists at your office to create a free 12-month tech plan to get your company moving in the right direction. We promise, we'll even bring you a complimentary bunch of bananas!