[singpilot]

All taxes were included in the raffle award. It is one of the reasons these Dubai raffles are so popular. If you have ever walked thru the Dubai terminal, there are 20 or more cars on display, all high end versions, with a machine for buying the tickets. You win, you really do win, no strings (or taxes). As I remember, typically there are 500 or so tickets sold on each car. You can only buy 10 tickets on each car. The ticket is for that version of that car, delivered anywhere in the world. You get to pick the color, everything else is already done. Every available option. One of the most popular ones is the bullet-proof Rolls. The UAE looks at it as advertising. It works, anytime I have to fly thru the Middle East, I change planes in Dubai just to buy a few tickets.

I handed them the winning ticket.

I know this sounds magnanimous. It wasn't. I had a nice car, these people didn't. They had worked long hours, in a management position without much in the way of a pay increase, months at a time, on a new airline, without any ownership stake, and were instrumental in making it all happen. Anybody who has ever started their own business understands the constant juggling of capital and resources. Our paychecks were minimal and the four managers were always the last to be paid. Even then, there were times when I would say "Don't run to the bank until next tuesday". We were in Las Vegas, and there are some funny stories about cashing our friday checks in a casino across town on a sunday night knowing it wouldn't be good until tuesday because the casino gave you chips equal to 3% of your paycheck, which we would use in the $1.99 buffet for 3 days of meals. Only once in 2 years did we get a visit from the "Guido and Vito" collection agency.

This casino, when they found out what we were doing with our airline, became one of our best clients. I could write a book on some of those charters. ("Take these guys and their golf bags to Palm Springs. Bring the keno girls back." It was amazing how many people casinos either want to get out of town, or get into town.)

On a subsequent venture, I did make them stockholders in addition to the normal pay.