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>>> Michael: New Jersey born and
bred James Simmons, Catholic
school, Princeton University,
Virginia Tech, Kellogg School,
has done a number of deals in
his life. And we're very
fortunate to have my friend Jim
Simmons today. Hi Jim. Thanks
for being here.
>>> James: Thank you, Michael.
It's great to see you. 
>>> Michael: Jim, tell, tell me
about your grandparents. Go back
on your father's side and then
your mother's side. 
>>> James: My father was
actually born in Rutherford,
Alabama, and my grandmother
migrated from Alabama to first
Chicago, in search of work, and
left my dad and with his
grandparents while she did so.
She came back and settled in
Columbus, Georgia when my dad
was in high school. So, he
finished high school in Columbus
and then went into the Navy. 
>>> Michael: Talk about
your mother's side. 
>>> James: Yeah. So, my mother,
she's from a place which is
known as paradise for a lot of
people, which is Key West,
Florida. And when I tell people
I have my roots there, they,
they have a hard time believing
it. But my lineage on that side
of the family originated out of
The Bahamas and they too were a
part of the original slave
trade, came over to Key West and
searched work. My grandfather,
amongst many things, helped
build a railroad, which was the
overseas railroad, that Henry
Flagler built all the way down
to the Keys. And so, we have a
multigenerational history in Key
West Florida. And my mother left
and immigrated or not
immigrated, left and went to
college north, in North
Carolina, after high school. 
>>> Michael: So, your father,
after he graduated high school
joined the Navy, correct? 
>>> James: Yes. And he did so
because he didn't have many
other options. He would have
loved to gone to college, but
due to finances and, you know,
the inability to really find a
way to pay for it or, or how to
apply, he did what a lot of
young men did to get out of the
circumstance that they were in,
which is to join the armed
service, services. So, he joined
the Navy. 
>>> Michael: Now how'd your mom
meet your dad? 
>>> James: My dad was stationed
in Key West. If you go back to
that point in time, Key West had
a huge Naval presence,
remembering that Cuba was one of
our arch enemies. And so, he was
stationed there. His best
friend, at the time, met my
mother's sister, her older
sister. They ended up getting
married eventually. But through
that original introduction, my
parents met while she was in
high school. 
>>> Michael: So, then your
father was stationed in
Philadelphia, correct? 
>>> James: Yeah. So, he was
stationed a number of places.
But when I was born, he was
stationed in Philadelphia and I
was born in Naval hospital in
Philadelphia, lived in South
Jersey for the first few years
of my life prior to my dad
exiting the Navy and moving to
Central Jersey with my mom. 
>>> Michael: Let's talk about
the interesting story about the
family in the one bedroom and
you had enough family members to
have a baseball team. 
>>> James: [Laughs] Yeah. You
know, Michael you know me, and
I'm not one of those people who,
who -- -- -- about walking
uphill both ways to and from
school. But what I can tell you
is that, when my parents moved
to Central Jersey, my aunt who I
just mentioned, who married my
dad's best friend, she became
widowed. So, he died when he was
in the service. And so, she had
a young son who was a year older
than me. We moved into a
two-bedroom apartment. My mother
had my sister and one of my
oldest cousins, so my mother's
oldest sister's daughter who was
really close to my mother in
age, because she's one of six,
she moved in with us with her
daughter. So, we had eight
people in a two-bedroom
apartment in New Brunswick, New
Jersey. Now as a child, it was
fun because you always had
people to play with. But
thinking about those
circumstances now that I'm
adult, they were probably pretty
challenging for my parents at
the time. 
>>> Michael: When your father
completed the Navy, he got a job
with RCA, correct? 
>>> James: He did. He did. Back
then RCA the world, the GEs,
those, the technical companies
say IBMs, they had their own
training programs and some had
their own campuses where they
brought people in and taught
them a lot about technology and
that's what my dad did. He got
into one of the technical
programs at RCA at the time. 
>>> Michael: And he also went to
get some technical programs at
Rutgers, I read. 
>>> James: That is correct.
That's correct. Because we were
living in, in New Brunswick,
Rutgers is based there. And so,
he, he took some college classes
there as well. 
>>> Michael: Let's talk about
the move to Somerset. Father was
able to -- 
>>> James: Yeah. Yeah. So, you
know, my, my grandparents on
both sides ultimately owned
their houses and it was
instilled upon us that home
ownership was really important.
And so, my parents saved for the
better part of the time that my
father got out of the Navy. And
shortly after my sister was
born, probably two, not sure,
two years after my sister was
born, when I was six, they
acquired a house in Somerset,
New Jersey, which is a suburb of
New Brunswick. One of the
interesting points of fact is
that, redlining was in full
force and effect, that was the
only place that they were
allowed to buy. There was only
one lender that would lend to
them. So, we were really limited
by, so the neighborhoods in
which we could, we could live
in, grow up. 
>>> Michael: You know, few
people would realize that this
was the Levitt homes were in
the neighborhood and the Levitt
homes were redlined. Correct? 
>>> James: That's correct. A
couple of, a couple of blocks
from where, from where I grew
up, Levitt had a large
development. And for a, a
significant period of time of my
youth, it was a hundred percent
white, if not 99% white. And
there were strict rules about
where you could travel in terms
of riding your bike and playing,
when you were a young kid,
again, you didn't understand
why, but, but that is a fact. 
>>> Michael: Okay. You said your
parents, you know, were always
interested in education and they
sent you to parochial school,
correct? 
>>> James: That's correct. St.
Peter's High School in New
Brunswick, which doesn't exist
any longer, unfortunately. 
>>> Michael: So, let's talk
about those days over there at
St. Peter's. 
>>> James: Yes. You know, I have
very, very fond memories of, of
my time at St. Peter's. I was
fortunate. I mean, small school.
I graduated with probably 120
kids. So, many of which, I was
there for since the first grade.
If you were a dedicated student
and were interested in learning,
they provided you the tools to
do so. It allowed me to get
accepted some to several top
universities. But and we were,
we were also good in sports as
well. So, it was a well-rounded
12 years of education, that also
provided some spiritual
grounding and guidance as well.
>>> Michael: Now, when you were
there, you had an interesting
things that you used to do in
the summer. Talk about Stevens
Tech in Hoboken. 
>>> James: Yeah, Michael, you
know, for a lot of kids, they
don't have, who don't have
family members or friends or
mentors who can help to guide
them and educate them about the
possibilities relative to
careers choices. Some our
programs exist to help that
process along. And I'm the
direct beneficiary of, of one
said program, which was called
the STEP program, the Stevens
Technical Enrichment Program,
and I was a part of that program
from the time that I was a
freshman in high school until
the time that I graduated. And
the syllabus included Saturdays,
every Saturday during the school
year, as well as eight weeks
during the summer. And those
eight weeks over the summer, you
spent on Stevens campus just as
if you were a full --- student,
you took classes from professors
and they were all engineering
focused, but they led you to
understand that you could be a
college student and perform well
at a high level. And it put us,
put me in a situation where I
was around likeminded kids. So,
that was certainly one of the
foundations and building blocks
that led me to actually be an, a
double E and CS major at
Princeton. 
>>> Michael: Now, as you were
saying to me, this program was
also available to you, because
it was a minority program,
correct? It was for minorities?
>>> James: That's correct. It
was for talented minorities in
the greater New York region. We
had kids from New York City,
Northern New Jersey,
Central New Jersey. I think
there might've been a couple
from Staten Island, Long Island,
but they drew from a pretty
large --
>>> Michael: Now, one reason,
you know, you're in the real
estate business today, how do
you decide to get involved with
engineering? 
>>> James: Well, part of it, I
think Michael was influenced by
my father who worked at General
Electric for many years and its,
you know, successors,
including the Honeywell
corporation, but when he came
out of that RCA course, he
became a field engineer and, and
his job was really to
troubleshoot large mainframe
computers. So, he would take me
to the offices of his clients on
the weekends when he would go
and get called in. And I was
interested in, in what he did.
And back then you had, you know,
card readers. So, you fed the
little cards into the computers
and that fascinated me. But
secondarily, I had deep
interests and I still do, in
science and in math and excel
that -- and that really
pointed me towards engineering
because I really liked the way
that it made me think. 
>>> Michael: Now, when we were
talking yesterday, you were
saying to me, that you probably
would have ended up at Rutgers,
but your mother felt that you
had, I mean, you were the class
president, member of National
Honor Society, you were a
reasonable athlete, as you
would say. Okay? 
>>> James: -- Jack of all
trades master of none. I'll
definitely say that to be the
case. 
>>> Michael: Okay. So, you
could've gone to Rutgers, but
mom said you have the ability
and you should go and excel. So,
how'd you decide to apply to
half of the top universities in
the nation?
>>> James: Yeah -- 
>>> Michael: Including Stanford
-- 
>>> James: I'll tell you,
Michael, this, this is no
disparagement to Rutgers. I was
a true scarlet red fan, actually
was present at the very last
Princeton Rutgers football game.
We would go --- me and a bunch
of my buddies, we would go to
Rutgers football and basketball
games, whenever they were
playing at home. So, at the
time, the state of New Jersey
had a program where if you were
one of the top students
academically, that you got
admitted to Rutgers in your
junior year. And so, I did. And
from my perspective at the time,
I was done, so, I was going to
go to Rutgers and, and you know,
my life's gonna be great. I was
going to continue to hang out
with my friends that I had been
with for 12 years. And my mother
said, you know, you should not
limit your opportunities, this
comes around once your life, you
can apply to different places
and not only see where you get
into and then choose, go visit
and see, see what you like. And,
you know, you're only a junior.
And I was -- I was actually a
year young for my age, for my
class. So, she said, listen,
you're relatively young. So, why
don't you apply? And by the way,
you've done very well. So, there
are other schools that you
should consider. So, I applied
to a number of the Ivys and some
other technical schools and got
into a bunch of them. So, in
April is a period of time when
schools roll out the red carpet
and they have a newly admitted
freshmen class or prospective
freshmen class come and visit.
And so, it took a bunch of those
visits and Princeton just struck
a chord. And I can tell you that
if you'd asked me at the
beginning of the process, was I
going to not go to Rutgers, but
just go 15 minutes down the road
and go to Princeton, the year
before that I would have said
absolutely not, that makes no
sense. If I'm not going to go
Rutgers, I'm gonna go someplace
far. But when I visited
Princeton, it instantly clicked.
My roommate, who was my roommate
for four years, was someone who
I met during the STEP
program, we took a couple of
college visits, not together
together, but we got admitted to
a few of the same schools and we
were there at the same time. And
during a conversation that a lot
of kids have, where are you
going to go? Where are you going
to go? What are you thinking?
What do you like? We both sort
of said that we felt really good
about Princeton. And so, we
decided collectively to go, we
became roommates, and had been
longstanding friends ever since
then, but that's part of how
that happened. 
>>> Michael: So, let's talk
about, you know, one year that
you weren't at Stevens anymore,
was the year between Princeton
and between the first and second
year where you learned how
difficult it was to become a
banquet waiter and you realized
that you wanted to use your
smarts as opposed to your -- 
>>> James: Yeah, Michael, I tell
you, I can tell you that. I tell
my kids almost on a daily basis,
they're tired of hearing it,
that I don't work for a living.
I am fortunate enough that I can
sit and use my brain, as opposed
to, as you just defined it use
my -- -- The job that I had
between freshman year and senior
year in high school was banquet
waiter at a newly developed
Marriott in Somerset, New
Jersey. And we were, I worked
that job with my cousin and we
were young for the job. So,
these were adults and then two
high school kids. And we would
sometimes have to work double
shifts, 18 hours, carrying up to
12 plates on a tray, add
attention. If you had a wedding,
you might get out of there at 3
or 4:00 AM and you had to break
down everything post. And it
was, it was really eye opening
to me and made me appreciate
what it means to get an
education and how it can
transform your life. I had some
other jobs during high school
where I was cleaning buildings
and warehouses with a couple of
my friends, but the the level of
physical exhaustion I have not
experienced since I had that
job. And it, as I said, truly
makes me appreciate what the
people who actually make this
world go around do on a daily
basis to make our lives that
much easier, people who fix the
roads, the people who deliver
the mail, you know, those people
work in factories. Those are
people who really work hard on a
daily basis. 
>>> Michael: Let's talk about
the summers between the other
years, now that you no longer be
the banquet waiter. You went to
Bell Labs? 
>>> James: I did. I did. So
again, following that, that
whole path on being an engineer,
you know, there were a few
places that were well renowned
for having really smart people
and doing some really
interesting things. Bell Labs
one of them, one of their
subsidiaries Bellcore, I ended
up getting an internship there
between freshmen and sophomore
years, and then the remaining
three years, I had an internship
at general, General Electric.
And in two locations, one was in
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and
the other was in Washington, DC.
Again, doing some really
interesting work both with
satellites where a satellite
division was in, in Valley
Forge, and then Washington DC in
our defense oriented and their
defense oriented subsidiaries
there. So, really opening my
eyes of what was that the
forefront at that point in time
of technological advancement in
the late eighties, mid to late
eighties. 
>>> Michael: So, then it's June
of 1988, you graduating
Princeton. How'd you decide to
go to GE? 
>>> James: [Laughs] Well, it
was, it was easy in the sense
that my parents almost dictated
it was. [Laughs] It was one of
the top corporations,
well-respected in the world and
I got accepted into their Edison
engineering program, training
program and that program, if
anyone knows anything about
General Electric, they are world
renowned for their management
training programs. And they
have, at the time that I was
there, they had many. They had
some that were focused on
engineering, some that were
focused on finance, some that
were focused on manufacturing.
But the oldest and the first was
the Edison engineering program.
And so, I got accepted to that.
And at the same time, I got a
master's in engineering from
Virginia Tech, but I spent my
first four years at GE rotating
around through different
businesses in preparation for
being in management and that's
the way that GE prepared
its, its future managers. 
>>> Michael: Didn't you have an
opportunity for this small
little company in Redmond? 
>>> James: Yeah, Washington.
[Laughs] What I can say is,
despite by having the offer from
General Electric, again,
remembering that I worked in
parks in summers, and following
the advice of my mother, which
is you should have as many
options as you, as you can, I
interviewed by senior year and
being an electrical engineering
computer science major, and many
firms recruiting and precedent,
I interviewed with a number of
very large and small companies.
IBM, -- Packard being a couple,
but there was one in particular
that I liked and I think they
liked me, and I was going to fly
out to have a follow on
interview or, or one of the
later stage of my final
interviews. And I talked to my
parents about it and they said,
well, listen, you, it's great
that you have these options, but
you have this great option here,
and this company that we haven't
heard of, you're going to fly to
the other side of the, of the
country. And that's where you'd
have to live. And, you know, are
you really ready for that? So
long story short, I ended up not
going out for the interview, but
that company ended up being
Microsoft. Now we have to put in
the context that Microsoft, what
it is today was not what it was
in 1987, 1988. So, it was a
small company that was only
known to people who were in
technology space. Windows was
very young. The advent of the PC
was really new. The first Mac
that's just come out. So again,
this is very nascent technology
and, you know, that's one, when
I, when I do talk to some of the
youth, when I do talk to them,
occasionally, I say, if there's
one decision that I made that I
may have some trepidations
about, it's whether how wise it
was or not, it's Microsoft
versus General Electric. And you
can look at the stock prices
today, if that's any indication
of the fortunes of those two
corporations. 
>>> Michael: So, what we're
going to do right now is take a
break and continue with your
life next week. And I'll see you
back next week. Thanks. 
>>> James: Thank you, Mike. 
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