In the mid-1990s, when Percy Weatherall was CEO of Hongkong Land and Michael Smith was a junior property cadet at Jones Lang Wootton, Weatherall offered Smith a job. Smith turned him down as he was already committed to UBS in Sydney. Weatherall, Smith recalls, “wasn’t very happy. I don’t think he had many people say no to him.”
Three decades later, Smith sat in that same corner office, newly installed as the company’s CEO. At his welcome dinner, he tracked down Weatherall and reminded him of the episode. The former boss had forgotten it entirely.
