Burke's background and family history in Cuba
Prior to the revolution, my father was one of the richest men in Cuba . According to an article in Time magazine, my father was worth more than $20 million (which would calculate to at least $200 million in today's dollars). He owned 12 different businesses, including cotton mills, retail stores, a textile mill, a chemical-manufacturing plant, and commercial real estate.
When Castro took over Cuba in 1959, my parents escaped to Jamaica with just the clothes on their backs. My father's businesses and bank accounts were confiscated for what the communists called “crimes against the people.”
My father's only “crime” was being successful… and then taking that success for granted. In hindsight, he should have moved some of his assets out of the country. He took it for granted that Castro would never be able to overthrow the government.
My father was wrong. And it cost him his fortune.
My father did his best to rebuild his dynasty. But a bad economy and a bad heart conspired to prevent his comeback. He wasn't bitter in his final days. He was just disappointed that he had run out of time.
My father did his best to teach me the key principles that enabled him to amass a small fortune while he was still in his 40s.
My father often lectured me on the importance of owning your own businesses. Ownership meant independence and control. As far as my father was concerned, the more businesses you had, the better.
“Your pipelines are your lifelines,” he would say.
I took my father's lessons to heart. I opened my first business when I was only 25 years old. Today I own several fast-growing businesses.
My father was a big believer in diversification. That's why most of his 12 different businesses were in different industries.
Over the years I've taken my father's advice and built several profitable pipelines. I don't own 12 businesses like he did. And I'm not worth $20 million yet.
But I'm working on it.
Miami Herald article - 2004
Reader's Digest article - 1943 |
