April 24, 2003
McCombs Offers Positive Outlook, Advice on
Pursuing Opportunities
By Brea Olson
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Austin – Red McCombs visited the McCombs School of Business Monday, assisting MBA students with fundraising for the “Leave a Legacy” campaign and talking with undergraduates about his life in business.
Recognizing the tough entrance requirements for a school that “in my wildest imagination I would have never dreamed they’d name after me,” McCombs welcomed students and applauded their accomplishments. “Congratulations to all of you for choosing this school,” he said, “and congratulations to all of you for having the school choose you.”
Hitting the high points of his business life, from his childhood ventures in Spur, Texas, to his high profile ownership of national franchises in sports and communications, McCombs attributed his entrepreneurial spirit to personal curiosity and ego. “I like taking leadership roles,” he said. “It is exciting and fun to build an international company like Clear Channel, but it is not that much different than building up a small company. Regardless of size, you have to look at what it takes to make things work.”
Addressing those in attendance about to embark on careers of their own, McCombs provided a positive outlook on the current economic difficulties and touched on what it takes to succeed in business. “These are not bad times. You will do well. There are a lot of opportunities out there to do a little better than the people who are out there already doing it,” he said. “There are no magic formulas, but the most important thing is to keep in mind what you learned as kids: work hard, be fair and honest, and care about people.”
McCombs also encouraged students to look around and take note of whom they do business with and why. “We all have our reasons, and we can learn from that,” he said.
As a man totally fascinated with sports at all levels, McCombs takes immense pride in his success as a sports owner. “As a boy I used to dream I would be able to see a sports contest in Madison Square Garden,” he said. “So it was a complete thrill to go in there with my own team and beat the Knicks.”
Though he prefers working with partners on most business ventures, the current NFL- and former NBA-franchise owner admitted that it’s easier to manage alone in the sports arena. “No business is as emotional as sports. Everyone knows everything about everything that should be done.”
Although emphasis is always placed on McCombs’ success, he responded to audience questions about times in which the outlook wasn’t as positive. “I knew within two months the Ford Edsel wasn’t going to work out,” he said. “Attitude is everything. I have no fear of failure and no fear of handing off a project if someone else can do it better than me.”
McCombs described his unrestricted financial gift to the University of Texas at Austin in 2000 as the way that he and his wife Charline could make the largest impact possible on the people of Texas. “For every entity in Texas to maximize its efforts and opportunities, they have to have a strong business core,” he said. “These business elements are common to all of the growth and opportunity in the state.”
Also see: Brea Olson's extended interview with Red McCombs from his April 24 visit.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
