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For those trying to protect the past, it is a way of retaining power, status, money, a way a life, predictability, comfort, control, and a bunch of other things like that. It is a struggle against the inevitability of change.

I'm a strong believer that you can build great companies in time of both greed and fear. But you have to be paying attention and operating under the right assumptions. You don't have to believe history repeats itself, but you should accept that history rhymes.

Lots of companies don't succeed over time. What do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future.

History has shown that incumbents tend to fight trends that challenge established ways and, in the process, lose focus on what matters most: customers.

Societies or companies that expect a glorious past to shield them from the forces of change driven by advancing technology will fail and fall. That applies as much to my own, the media industry, as to every other business on the planet.

It is entirely undemocratic to continue these burdens on the people for years and years after the requirements of protection have been met and the representatives of these industries have become incrusted with wealth.

I would say history is a clear witness to many of the problems that have erupted when two partners from the same industry or same country have come together.

History is fickle. We know that. The good and bad come around and go around, and go around again. There are recessions and depressions and economic boom and bust.

In a competitive industry, only paranoid incumbents - those constantly striving for betterment - have any hope of surviving.

Corporate competition is fierce, viewed by many as economic warfare where all is fair. But politics... now, this is something unique.