Who's afraid of vacancies? Not billionaire Larry Friedland

New York

THIS is how New York real estate billionaire Larry Friedland got his start: He was studying to be a pharmacist in the late 1950s when he met a guy named Nathan Miller.

"You could name any building in New York, give him the address, without a computer, without a land book, without anything, he would tell you the size of the building, who dropped it in 1929, who jumped off the roof, he was just incredible," Mr Friedland said in the first interview of his 55-year career. "He really taught me the business."

Becoming a druggist went out the window. He was hooked on real estate. In 1962, Mr Friedland bought a string of storefronts anchored by …