When tycoons and world leaders meet – as they will at a conference today on inclusive capitalism in London, featuring the Prince of Wales, Bill Clinton and Christine Lagarde – you never see them exchange cards. If they do, I doubt they hang on to them. At the end of an international gathering a couple of years ago, someone went to check a billionaire speaker’s room in case he had left anything behind. The guest had tidied it himself – bed made, furniture neatly arranged. The only evidence of his stay was in the bin: business cards from dozens of hopeful high-level networkers.
各界大亨与世界级领袖见面时，比如有威尔士亲王(Prince of Wales)、比尔•克林顿(Bill Clinton)和克里斯蒂娜•拉加德(Christine Lagarde)出席的5月27日在伦敦举行的包容性资本主义大会(Conference on Inclusive Capitalism)，你从来看不到他们交换名片。就算他们交换了名片，我也怀疑他们是否就会把名片保存起来。几年前，一场国际会议结束后，有人到一位身价上亿的会议发言人的房间，检查后者是否落下什么没有带走。这位客人已经自己收拾了房间——床铺整理过了，家具也摆放整齐。他曾在这间房间住过的唯一证据，就是在垃圾桶中的几十张有前途的高级交际人士的名片。