Читать книгу The Hunt for Unicorns - Winston Ma - Страница 15

A global pandemic puts much in perspective, summoning gratitude to the fore. As I write this in quarantine, the only sounds punctuating the odd, pervasive silence of Manhattan are the sirens of the first responders. It is to them I must first acknowledge gratitude. Together with those who are keeping the logistics of food, medical care and basic services functioning as I sit safely at my laptop living the digital transformation that is the focus of this work.

Many others have been instrumental in bringing this book to fruition. My colleagues in the practice of law have imparted the knowledge on this topic that is not to be found in the server racks of the internet. Two, in particular, aided my understanding of the world portrayed in this book: Brett Dick, who authored the go-to book on the US tax treatment of sovereign investors and his successor in that role, Babak Nikravesh, who also accompanied me on countless visits to many of the sovereign investors who fill these pages, always offering insight and good company.

Thanks are due as well to Hogan Lovells who made possible the annual Sovereign Investor Conference that brought together thought leaders from the sovereign investors featured in this book. The panel participants and keynote speakers provided valuable, empirical insights to the themes of this book.

Reaching back in time, I must also recognize the contribution of two professors who contributed to my appreciation of international business transactions: Hal Scott, whose course at Harvard Law School provided the building blocks for a career in international business law; and the late Sergio Le Pera, Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires, whose mentorship in comparative law has stood the test of time.

In the present, no one has been more valuable than my co-author, Winston, whose insight, skilled editing and good natured collaboration have powered this book.

My family deserve my greatest thanks for indulging me in this project-- as well as in the preceding decades of travel and late night conference calls that laid the foundation of experience upon which this book is built. My daughters Lex and Liv, both of whom provided great support (while occupied full time respectively at a unicorn and at college). And most fundamentally, my remarkable spouse, Rebecca Downs, who was my reality check and patient source of sanity as this project absorbed me.