Kent Swig is a legend in real estate circles. He has a reputation for being an out of the box thinker in the staid world of property development. Swig began buying buildings in New York’s financial district in the late 90s. At the peak, Swig’s buildings were worth about $3 billion. But when the 2008 financial crisis hit, the bottom fell out for Swig. He’d taken out what he thought would be a short-term personal loan of more than $21 million. Then his marriage ended in a bitter divorce. But Swig is back. He’s paying his creditors, he’s doing deals and he talks about why riding a wave on a surfboard is a kind of metaphor for the best moments in life.