Success Begins After 5:00 P.m.

When Nicolas M. Salgo was appointed the US ambassador to Hungary in 1983, it was a strange homecoming. More than half a century earlier, Salgo had been a young boy in Budapest dreaming of a better life. The decades in between his childhood and his return were full of romance, adventure, business, politics, and the changes of the world. In this new memoir, as told to Matthew J. Burns III, Salgo chronicles his journey through the twentieth century and the lessons he learned about the nature of success.

For Salgo, it began on August 17, 1914. He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, just a month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and eighteen days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. Salgo’s father was captured and sent to a POW camp in Siberia. He would not return for six years.

Salgo reminisces about not only his difficult childhood but also his early career in Europe, his first meeting with his future wife, and his eventual voyage to America. In the United States, Salgo created one of the first conglomerates, the Bangor Punta Corporation, helped build the Watergate Hotel and was appointed an ambassador to the country he once called home.

Nicolas M. Salgo is an internationally recognized businessman and ambassador. He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, in 1914 and eventually immigrated to the United States with his wife and children.

In New York City, Salgo became involved with real estate and helped build an empire. He was at the forefront of the field of mergers and acquisitions and was invited to lecture at Harvard Business School about his rules for success.

Salgo successfully made the leap from business to politics. He was active in the Republican Party and was appointed the ambassador to Hungary in 1983. He was placed in the unique situation of returning to his home country as an ambassador from his adopted one.