On Money, Position, and Power

A lawyer for the Rockefeller family once said: “The two most expensive things a Rockefeller can afford are running for office or getting a divorce.”

I often hear people use the words “money,” “power,” and “position” almost as synonyms. And it’s true that one often flows from another — but I’d like to offer my own view of these three things as three separate hierarchies.

To start, let’s define our terms very roughly:

— Money — material assets: cash, businesses, investments, and the rest.

— Power — influence over the decisions that get made (and not only in politics).

— Position — the formal place you hold in an organization or in public service.

Over my life I’ve crossed paths with a great many people — living examples of every possible combination of these three. For instance:

— A person holds a modest position somewhere, yet wields enormous influence (for those in the know) over decisions made at the federal level.

— A person owns — for now? — a large business, but has never built any kind of political or security-service leverage.

— A person holds a fine, high-sounding position with a handsome paycheck, but in reality makes none of the key decisions.

I’ll note that an imbalance across these “scores” is completely normal — only a handful of people in the entire country lead on all three at once.

But still — what’s the danger when one of the hierarchies shows a deep gap?

Not long ago the board tried to fire Sam Altman from OpenAI through the formal chain of command — and it turned out that along the line of power he had patrons who stand above any job title. Or take how often we read about a new piece of industry regulation that “nudged” companies from one set of owners into another. The stories with a security-service angle I’ll probably leave unmentioned.

Spotting your own weak spots can be a wonderful spur to grow — while it isn’t yet too late for your business or your career.

Why does splitting these into separate hierarchies matter so much? Because, as with everything else, focus is what counts. To succeed, you need a single priority — everything else is just a resource.

Next time you meet new people, try to place them mentally on each of these three scales. At first you’ll get it wrong a lot, but in time it becomes a habit. The skill will save you an enormous amount of time in finding the real beneficiaries in any situation.

One curious thing: in Mikhail Khazin’s book The Stairway to Heaven, there’s a fascinating description of how to tell a person of power from a person with no connection to it. The latter believe that “people go into power only for the money.” No — those who make it all the way to the top go into power… for power itself.

Here’s to all of us choosing our hierarchy and winning in it! 😎