B . Wayne Hughes was nearing forty in the late 1960s when, as a successful but otherwise nondescript mid-level execu- tive at a private real estate firm, he was asked to sit in on a meeting to discuss the future of Six Flags Over Georgia. The meeting was packed with high-powered New York investors, huddled together in small teams, that were trying to figure the best way to structure an ownership change to the young theme park. Hughes sat quietly by himself. During the lunch break, he called a co-worker to join him, so that it looked like he had a team, too. Maybe that was unnecessary, since Hughes was armed with an idea that would change the future of Six Flags. Nonetheless, he was hesitant to speak up, thinking someone might co-opt his idea if he did. So when the meeting adjourned, he approached the manager of the project. Frus- trated that no solution had yet been found, the manager was eager to hear what Hughes had to say…and asked what it would cost him. “The most money I could think of was $1 mil- lion,” says Hughes. “So I told him that, and he said, ‘Ok, no problem.’” Seeing the ease at which that offer was ac-