Our favourite count, Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, is on the BBC News today – unfortunately not talking about pencils, but about the Euro crisis.
Here is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19506417
Our favourite count, Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, is on the BBC News today – unfortunately not talking about pencils, but about the Euro crisis.
Here is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19506417
I like how the Count (who was a banker/financier for a time), Faber-Castell, and pencil-making were picked to represent longevity in business, but also that they are a very relevant business today.
I can see the headlines: “Pencil-Makers Solve Eurozone Crisis.” “How the Count Erased the Debt.” Or, “Castells Not Made of Sand!”
I wonder if at one point he could get a promotion, and become “King Faber-Castell.” 🙂
He even was an investment banker, but I guess (or rather hope) that at that time they didn’t behave yet like they did before the global financial crisis. Longevity in business is something great, something you cannot achieve when you don’t think long-term and reinvest the money you earn. Makes me think of what happened to Rotring after they were bought by a big company (I hope the same thing won’t happen to Braun).
Your headlines are fantastic, I’d buy any newspaper with these headlines on!
Count von Count can teach bankers financial maths to help with high risk financial products while our favourite Count erases the debt….
About him becoming King – he could rule from Castle Neuschwanstein and prove his point ( http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/pencil-boss-out-to-prove-a-point-835331 ) again, this time from the castle where the pencils would have to survive a bigger fall.
In his favour if he wants to become King of Bavaria: he’s from Fanconia and after Bavaria’s occupation of Franconia and their alliance with Napoleon Bavaria made Franconia part of their kingdom (1803) before the Kingdom of Bavaria’s dissolution (1918).
Another problem on the way to regency, related to the Kingdom of Bavaria’s dissolution, is that he’s actually not a count (even though I like to call him “our favourite count”). Here’s an explanation why: http://www.economist.com/blogs/theinbox/2007/03/face_value
…or,”Count, works it out with a pencil”.
…oh, and my favourite Count is “The Count” from Sesame Street.
By the way, the Count doesn’t throw his money around but pencils: Pencils raining from the castle tower.
The knife in the video seems to be their pencil knife…
At the end of the video, where the Count is holding a few pencils, looks around, and begins to walk away. I can’t help thinking that the voice in his head is saying something like:
“O.K., yes. That was fun. Now, somebody come and clean this all up. Schnell! Schnell! 🙂
Hehe 8^)