"One big thing about deals with the devil. Faustian pacts. Soul exchanges. The get-you-in-front-of-me-Satan dynamic. The key thing here, an element that often gets overlooked, is that consideration must also flow the other way. This is in the end an exchange, and one you don't get to default on. When Pauly buys a share in the restaurant, well, Pauly buys you too."
"There he is, our dear leader, alongside an iconic squad of fellow global rain-makers. To his left is a generic square-jawed galactic commander mail-order wellness powder type. On the edge of the group is a US politician who just looks like money made flesh, face as hard and blank as a government bond. Front and centre is a man with the hair of one of those haunted end-of-days Soccer AM presenters called Checkers or Doucheface who has by now been pared back to a single"
Deals that trade influence are mutual exchanges where consideration must flow both ways and cannot be defaulted on. Financial or ownership stakes often buy not just assets but people and their loyalties. Public figures who accept such exchanges carry the reputational costs of their associations, especially when staged alongside controversial peers. High-profile gatherings can blur lines between sport, politics and business, assembling government, corporate and media leaders whose optics can appear sinister. Visual presentation, attendees and institutional affiliations together shape how influence transactions are perceived and what obligations they imply.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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