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Bob Jacobson Found Alive and Well!!!
In 1983, Robert S. Jacobson, III, was the Western Association of Equipment Lessor vice-president. At the time he was vice-president, National Broker Division, Tri-Continental Leasing Corporation, a division of Bell Atlantic, a major telephone company. A WAEL Leasing Conference was not the same without him. He had served as vice present and member of the Executive Committee. In 1984 he He was recruited by Don Smith and Hy Bren of Interlease, San Francisco in 1974, from Union Bank. Don died of a heart attach while playing tennis in Tiburon, and his then partner Hy Bren went on to form his own company, finally joining Matsco, Emeryville, California, where he was a star salesman and sales personnel recruiter, Bob learned from the great advertiser/promoter Don Smith at Perry's on Union Street about “discounting” to start his own leasing company in 1975, which was sold to a holding company where he remained president until forming Leasing Acceptance. where Ben Millerbus was the sales manager. They had a direct sales force. In the next downturn of the industry, 1978, the company split up: Millerbus left to start Pentek Leasing, San Jose, California. He later he sold it in 1982 to Alaska Pacific Bancorporation, which in turn was sold to a large Upstate New York bank. Millerbus didn't stay retired long, forming Pentech Financial Services in Campbell, California with the backing of John Otto, plus was co-founder of Silicon Valley Bank ( he has recently formed a group to start a commercial bank again ). Jacobson, well-known for his late night poker games, set up a broker “private label” operation called Tri-Continental Leasing, then located in Mountain View, California. In one of the next economic down turns, the telephone company divested itself of this division, shutting down their branch operations. Bob then went to work for Amembal, Deane & Associates doing lease training across the country. From memory, he was here about a year before he left the leasing business to join Hewlett-Packard, reformed, reportedly doesn't gamble, and last heard was involved in managing an engineering department. He and his family live in the Half Moon Bay area, California, where he commutes to work (just like John McCue of McCue Systems, Inc.) Attempts to reach Jacobson him for a statement of the industry have gone unanswered. He has been “annoyed” at Kit Menkin for several years for not attending his birthday party, and that's Bob. The Good News ! ! ! Cheryl and Bob Jacobson are Alive and Well in Lake Tahoe “Periodically, Jim Swander has forwarded to me tidbits from your newsletter that pertain to me. I thought I'd give you an update if you care to include in any future issue. “As you all know, I had become passionate about technology during my final years in the leasing industry. After Bell Atlantic Tricon decided to close the broker division in the early 90's, I devoted about a year to building up a computer BBS (Bulletin Board System) out of my home. One of my users was a manager at HP Laboratories in Palo Alto. He made me a job offer to join HP as a temporary I.T. worker, installing computers at the labs. That progressed to a full time engineering job where I eventually became a department manager in charge of inventing disruptive technologies. “After about 5 years, my natural core competency of B*S* took over, and I was sent into the field. I ended up being a Business Development Manager for Europe, and then Asia. My job was to negotiate the multi-million dollar alliance and partner relationships for HP overseas. After 300,000 miles of travel per year and 270 nights in hotels every year for a 4 year period, I finally had to get out in 2002. “Cheryl and I found ourselves in Lake Tahoe over a holiday, and fell in love with the area! We sold our home in Half Moon Bay, bought a house up here, and then tried to figure out what we wanted to do for work. I thought that maybe being a blackjack dealer would be a great change of pace! I was accepted into Harvey's black jack school, but when Cheryl found out, she told me absolutely not. She didn't want me in the smoke filled, booze filled, environment. I learned a long time ago that I wear the pants in the family, but she tells we what color and which leg to put in first. :-) “So, Marriott opened up a timeshare resort in Heavenly about that time. I called up and they immediately took me on board. I've been selling vacation ownership here in Tahoe since May '03. “I'm still sober, don't gamble anymore, and love living in Paradise!! Attached is an updated picture they took at HP a couple of years ago. “I think about all my friends in the Leasing Industry many times. I try to keep up with what's happening to all my old friends as much as I can. If anyone wants to email me, my email address is jacobson@overjoyed.com. And, Kit, you are totally forgiven for standing me up on my birthday dinner so many years ago. :-) “Bob Jacobson”
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