As a real estate entrepreneur, I’m pretty nosy when it comes to studying businesses, especially when exploring the roots of America’s largest companies. What’s the background of the founders? How did their upbringing and early career forge the set of values that fuel these mega-corporations? …

“If you had $10 million to build your own building, would you hire [our company] to do it for you?” After a brief moment of silence, he looked at me in the eyes and firmly replied, “Never.” At the time, I was a pre-construction engineer working on a $24 million…