"The bravado of shredding the paper and loudly announcing the desired figure is a dead giveaway" You are right based on my many many years negotiating. Noting

"The bravado of shredding the paper and loudly announcing the desired figure is a dead giveaway" You are right based on my many many years negotiating. Noting also that Steve used this with Heidi Roizen. While he may have also used it with a "Carl Icahn" (someone like Carl, not Carl) I somehow doubt it. It's pure bluster and it telegraphs a lot. [1] One more important point (perhaps someone else has mentioned this). The "friend" could have been part of the act. Quite possibly. Negotiating is part acting and role playing (at least the way I have seen it done and practice myself). As a result it's similar to when the government doesn't officially release info but manages to get someone to "off record" to get something in the press. They call it "absence of malice" or similar (I think don't remember the exact phrase..) [1] I've had cases negotiating where I know in advance that I will shake my head up and down "no" even if the number is good just to send a message.