Mr. Chow has always been decisive. After over a decade in investment banking, he developed a habit of making quick decisions and executing even faster. So when he finally decided to sell the Louis XIII he had kept for ten years, it took him no more than three days from contacting the dealer to completing the transaction.
A Corporate Gift Ten Years Ago
The story begins in 2016. That year, Mr. Chow closed the biggest deal of his career, and the company gave several generous year-end gifts to the core team members. What Mr. Chow received was a bottle of Louis XIII de Rémy Martin, complete with the red gift box, crystal decanter, and dust bag—a full, complete set.
"I was happy for about five minutes that day," Mr. Chow recalled. "Then I put it in the storage cabinet and basically forgot it existed."
It wasn't that he didn't know its value—Mr. Chow certainly understood the worth of Louis XIII. However, he usually preferred whiskey, rarely touching cognacs. Moreover, since this bottle was brand new and unopened, he felt it would be a waste to open it and drink it, yet there was no special occasion worthy of opening it. And so, it sat for ten years.
