Brill: Clear's closing a surprise

The son of a Queens liquor store owner, the 58-year-old Brill is no stranger to the dizzying world of entrepreneurial ups and downs. He first made a name for himself three decades ago when he bought, revamped and sold the American Lawyer magazine, and some smaller legal publications, including the Daily Report, headquartered in Fulton County.

Brill has never lived in Atlanta, but many of his projects have strong area ties. He viewed the Clear operation at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as a vital part of the company's future. He founded and sold Court TV, accruing a small fortune in the process and launching the TV career of former Fulton County prosecutor Nancy Grace.

He fumbled on Brill's Content, a media-centric magazine that bit the dust in 2001, and with Inside.com, a media site that got a lot of industry buzz but failed to make money.

"There are different measures of success," Brill said by telephone from his New York office recently. "One is business success. And the other is this: Did you handle yourself in each situation with integrity and were you there to answer questions when it succeeded or it failed? I'm very proud of all of that in my life."

Brill says he was surprised by Clear's closing and still believes in it as a business model. But he has sued Verified Identity Pass, which he founded in 2005, over what he says is a 2008 salary dispute. Most of the records of that case, filed in the New York State Supreme Court, are sealed, and Brill declined to discuss specifics of the case.

"If it goes forward it'll come out in court, and it will all be pretty clear," he said. "It certainly sheds some light on how much I knew and how much I had to do with their current problems."

Asked if he left the company because it was about to collapse, Brill said: "Hardly. That's not my style."

Some documents in the legal case are public, including a deposition where the company contends "the Board voted to remove Brill" on March 1. Brill disputes that claim —- he said he stepped down.

"It was not a friendly situation, but I did resign," he said.

At least two Clear customers also have filed lawsuits against Verified Identity Pass in New York state courts, seeking pro-rated refunds. Another Clear customer, Stephen Perkins, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in federal court in New York.

Attorneys representing Verified Identity Pass did not return calls seeking comment on the cases. Other Clear officials could not be reached for comment. A call to Clear's former New York headquarters was answered by a voice message saying the company no longer exists.

Anger and respect

Clear was operating at Atlanta and 17 other airports, including LaGuardia, Reagan National and San Francisco, when it shut down. Clear officials said the company could not get continued financing from a major creditor.

State Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) said he found it shocking that the company had urged customers like him to help sign up friends for a $50 discount just a week or so before shutting down. Balfour, a road warrior who is vice president of Waffle House Inc., said his one-year Clear contract had only a few months left, but said he feels for friends who had just forked over their entire annual fee.

"I think they should give refunds, but I'm not holding my breath," Balfour said.

The same week Clear lanes closed, Brill, a former Newsweek columnist, was teleconferencing with New York reporters about Journalism Online, which is set to launch this fall. Brill and his partners —- former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz and former cable TV executive Leo Hindery —- believe that a percentage of online readers (10 percent to be precise) will be willing to pay for unique content if it is presented to them in the proper context. His company would take a percentage of those payments.

Though at least one analyst has said the idea "may not be the best solution," Brill insists some major publishers have already embraced the concept. He declined to name names, however.

When he is pushing an idea, Brill is a man who leaves few stones unturned. That has both angered and earned the respect of those he has encountered.

Ben DeCosta, general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, found Brill charming and engaging when he approached DeCosta about his paid Clear lanes. Brill viewed Hartsfield-Jackson, the world's busiest airport, as a vital part of Clear's future.

DeCosta, however, balked because he wanted to investigate a total revamp of the airport's security lines. Shortly after DeCosta put Brill's proposal on hold, he found his e-mail inbox jammed with more than 400 messages from business travelers demanding he bring Clear to Atlanta.

"He and I had some words over that," DeCosta said. "He is a very effective presenter of his ideas. He understands what will be conducive to his audience and he pushes it. Sometimes he pushes it to the point that people are turned off. But in the end, I appreciated the engagement with him over the security lines here."

A perennial optimist

Brill refers to himself as a perennial optimist. In his business, he said, it is the only mind-set you can afford.

"You have to be an optimist to start things that don't exist," he said.

He remains optimistic about Clear as well.

He thinks there is still a chance it will be revived —- the infrastructure still is in place and he thinks road-weary business travelers still want it. He has no worries, as some do, about personal information handed over by Clear customers for pre-screening being misused. He also thinks Clear subscribers should get refunds —- if the defunct company has any money left to dole out.

"I'm as surprised as most [customers] are," he said, referring to the company's abrupt shuttering. "I renewed my cards for my family and me three or four months ago. So I'm in the same boat they are."

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