t would have required the agreement of all three bidders, a complica- tion that they understandably didn't want to add to the mix of issues they were working on around the clock. I couldn't even get permission to bring a reporter into the small conference room at Wachtell Lipton that was stacked ceiling to floor with operational data on AT&T Broad- band. I thought it would provide graphic testimony to the rigor with which the bidding process was being run. The lawyers saw it as a monumental security breach. In the end, bringing a third party over the wall during the bidding process was unnecessary. It all turned out as everyone had assumed it would: AT&T sold its cable properties to the company that had kicked off the auction with its Sunday afternoon fax. But if the board had decided to reject all three bids and go it alone, its motives would have been questioned. Having a third party on the inside, writing about the debate comprehensively, could only have enhanced our credibility. Since such a rejection would have been only one more round in corpo- rate battles that almost certainly would have included a proxy fight, the public's trust would have been an essential asset. Reimagine Your Company's Mission The corporate raiders of the 1980s and 1990s were a new class of corporate samurai dedicated to slashing costs and wringing value out of underutilized assets. But financial engineering often begs fundamental issues of business definition, and serial divestitures and acquisitions can leave employees wondering what their mis- sion really is. One of a CEO's most fundamental responsibilities is to identify and communicate the ingredients of long-term value creation. What's Next, What's Left? Announcing Comcast's winning bid, of course, was only the begin- ning of a nearly year-long effort to win regulatory approval. As Armstrong, Brian Roberts, and I rode to a round of television interviews following a December 20 analyst meeting and news confer- ence, both men called public officials to reiterate our key message th