“There are good ships, there are wood ships, there are ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships and may that always be.” An old Irish proverb
Do you remember what you were doing when you were 29 years old? Well for me it was in early April 1984. I had just finished completing my Ph.D. in Economics at Fordham University and knew I didn’t want to stay in the job I had held the past 3 years as an energy economist at Texaco, one of the big oil companies of the day.
I saw an advertisement in the classified section of the NYT about a Senior Auto Analyst position at Merrill Lynch Economics, the consulting arm of Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, one of the storied titans of Wall Street.
I was so excited to receive a call from HR that I would get to interview for the position and that’s how I first met Mike. I don’t remember the actual questions Mike asked me that day, but there was an immediate connection between the two of us and soon we were sharing our love affair for all things automotive – especially our Ph.D. dissertations – Mike’s on how to build an accurate econometric model of sales and mine on the quality gap between the American and Japanese producers.
I wasn’t sure if I would be offered the job following the interview, but I did as much follow up research on the position and on Mike and realized just how well-regarded in the industry Mike already was in this budding new profession called economic consulting.
He was easily the biggest net revenue producer for Merrill’s consulting entity, having garnered major consulting retainers with each of the Big Three car companies, the larger Japanese firms Toyota, Nissan and Honda who were gaining significant market share in the North American market, and the ever-burgeoning luxury car market with major brands like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volvo, and Jaguar.
During that period, Mike solidified his reputation making frequent appearances on network TV and the new cable platforms like Financial News Network, Moneyline, and CNBC and quoted extensively in all the major business periodicals like the WSJ, NYT, and industry publications like Crain’s Automotive News.
Well, luckily for me I was offered the position and over the next 3 years, I learned more about the automobile industry than in any other period of my career. Mike went out of his way to teach me the ropes, everything from how to write more effectively in a business setting, how to use and interpret market research data, and how to put together presentations for either a client or for one of the seminars that Mike and I often sponsored. Perhaps Mike’s greatest gift to me was teaching me how to do a detailed risk assessment of our base case forecast, helping clients better understand both the upside and downside risks in our projections.
It became very clear to me that Mike had taken a very special interest in my career, often taking me along for client visits to Detroit, LA, CT, and NJ. He was patient beyond belief especially if I made a mistake and always quick to share a complement for something he thought was well done.
As we moved into our second and third year of working together, Mike made me feel increasingly like we were partners in this enterprise, becoming great friends outside the office environment. Thursday nights would often involve a stop at Harry’s at Hanover Square and those small little pieces of pizza that we would just devour; Friday nights were reserved for beers at Tucker’s on the East Side of Manhattan, a bar owned by former NY Giants star Tucker Frederickson or our personal favorite place to imbibe – PJ Clarkes — and those world-famous hamburgers.
We would sit for hours talking about the industry and how we could enhance the business. It was too easy in those moments for me to lose track of what time it was, but sometimes that caused me some embarrassment. One night, I missed the last train out of Hoboken, so I had to take a yellow cab home all the way to Wyckoff where Jean and I lived. As I fell asleep in the cab and the taxi pulled up the driveway, I didn’t realize that the fare on the meter needed to be doubled for the drivers return trip back to Hoboken. I didn’t have that extra $50 to settle the bill but thankfully Jean saved the day for me. Mike would always love it when I would retell that story – I can still hear him and that infectious laugh of his.
As 1985 drew to a close, Mike shared with me that he was contemplating a move to Wall Street to become a financial automotive analyst where he would have free reign to issue investment recommendations on each of the companies in the industry. It was an exciting time to be a securities analyst in what came to be known as sell side research and Mike’s extensive skill set was well suited for the role. In early December of that year, Mike told me he was going to accept a job at Shearson Lehman and that he would recommend to our President Jack Lavery that I take over for him upon his departure.
It was the greatest gift anyone had ever given to me in my career and Merrill could have easily conducted a nationwide search for his replacement and so as the new year began, Mike was off to this exciting new opportunity on the sell side while I had big shoes to fill for him at Merrill. In another great example of what Mike has always meant for me as mentor and friend, he would call me every week just to make sure I was doing ok with my new role as he also knew I had just become a father for the first time and wanted to support me.
Our friendship grew stronger over the next several years with Mike and I meeting regularly to share our love for this industry that was part of our DNA. After several years as a Wall Street analyst, Mike called me one day to let me know that he was going to start his own economic consulting venture called The Luckey Consulting Group that would thrive as an independent entity over the next 30 years
Like many of you, there were so many great moments that Jean and I were able to share with Mike and Andrea over the years – summer vacations in Bayhead, their beautiful wedding, the birth of Katharine — Mike’s pride and joy, and several visits to their beautiful home in Woodcliff Lake. One of my favorite memories was when my wife surprised me with a 40th Birthday Party and seeing my dear friend and mentor Mike there with Andrea to celebrate with me.
I will be forever grateful to Mike for the gift of his mentorship and especially for the blessings of friendship. I can’t help but think of how appropriate that old Irish proverb above applies to my life experience with Mike — “There are good ships, there are wood ships, there are ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships and may that always be.” And also how the Lord embraced Mike in his loving arms at the gates of heaven with the words we all want to hear at that end of our earthly journey “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” RIP brother Mike, I will miss you dearly. Love always, Jack
