My family business clients all have various amounts of what every family has: closeness and harmony, as well as distance and conflict, to name a few elements. And, they share various levels of involvement in a business – leadership, management, ownership, or simply working there to see if that is what they want for the coming decades. Being tightly connected to family can put a smile on your face, or a pit in your stomach – and sometimes both. I Read more »
Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang created the retail chain Forever 21 from nothing when they came to the U.S. from South Korea. They built it to revenues of more than $4B at its height and had 43,000 employees. Their daughters, Linda and Esther, both received Ivy-league educations and were given high-level executive positions. Mr. Chang was CEO dealing with real estate and vendors and Mrs. Chang was heading up design and merchandising. At the end of last year, Read more »
If you’ve read any of these posts over the years, you know I like to connect rock music and family business one way or another. Earlier this month elite rock drummer Neil Peart, of Rush fame, died. I’ve been a Rush fan since 1980 and have been mesmerized by the speed and complexity of Peart’s drumming and the deep, meaningful lyrics for which he was mainly responsible. Often known as “nerd rock” or “cerebral rock,” Rush quoted Shakespeare and Ayn Read more »
Jeff was interviewed by Jane Scaccetti of Drucker and Scaccetti – “The Tax Warriors .” Really more of a conversation between friends, sprinkled with great questions from attendees, they discussed wealth transfers within families. Please have a listen . Among the most significant insights for attendees was how early this process can begin and how little focus on “money” is necessary to set a solid foundation. As far as starting early, an example was given of how NOT to talk to a four-year-old about a family business (and how TO do Read more »
Jane Beddall, my good friend and colleague, invited me to be interviewed for her podcast, “Crafting Solutions to Conflict.” You can CLICK HERE to listen to the interview. She and I have been members of a study group in New York City for many years. We present cases and support one another in the challenging profession of helping families work together productively across time and make generational transitions. I find the support of the group invaluable; the range of professional disciplines represented Read more »
In the November 16, 2018 “Wealth Matters” column in the NY Times, Paul Sullivan wrote about his interview with me and one of my family clients. My thanks to Paul and a special thanks to the Buckwald family – David, Jennifer, Jack & Morgan for their openness (and for their hospitality to the Times photographer who became stranded at their home overnight in a snowstorm while David was stranded elsewhere and could not make it home until the next morning!) Read more »
I recently received a referral from an attorney I’ve known for years. The referral was for a married couple who were both children of immigrants who valued education and had earned PhD degrees in science. They started a company that became wildly successful in terms of financial success and respect from colleagues and investors. The couple sold it for a large sum and when they decided to start another company, investors swooned and supplied cash. The couple had been having Read more »
My friend and colleague Pierre duPont, Partner at HPM Partners in New York City, recently wrote a great piece entitled, “Raising Children Into Wealth – Hungry, Productive and Compassionate.” I hope you will read it. One of his points really resonated with me and brought to mind the work I do coaching parents with significant wealth and working with them and their kids together: “…show your children that life is not about the things in it but about the people in it and the individual moments lived and shared. Money can sometimes enhance those, but Read more »
Last month, Sam Walker, writing in The Wall Street Journal , took on the issue of privilege in the context of Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony on Capitol Hill. I am not going to offer my opinions here about Kavanaugh and the hearings; Walker did not either. What Walker did address is the issue of how growing up in an affluent and “rarefied upbringing” might affect perceptions of leaders and how well they actually lead, especially when leading diverse teams. Walker makes an interesting point about the unfair advantages children Read more »
I was born in 1966 to a mom who would have been a hippie or academic if she did not get married at 18 and start having kids so early. My mom was passionate about her fight against oppression in all forms and impressed upon my sisters and me the importance of social equity for all regardless of race. The institution of slavery and its antithesis embodied in the Civil Rights movement, made it easy for a young kid like Read more »
