Barry Manilow is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include “Could It Be Magic”, “Mandy”, “I Write the Songs”, “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana”.

John Francis Welch Jr. was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001. When Welch retired from GE, he received a severance payment of $417 million, the largest such payment in business history up to that point.