Independent Banker - July 2019 - 65

4 infamous family
business conflicts
" It takes a long time,
I think, for a board
member to really get
up to speed and really
understand things. We're
constantly working with
them, and that's part of
the process you have to
go through. "
-Randy Compton,
Pioneer Trust Bank, N.A.
Inc., his banks' holding company, and he knows
there will come a time when it's right for him to
leave. He adds: " I don't know how I'm going to feel
about it, but the reality is, that's what's going to
happen at some point. "
Making professional barriers
For any family business, keeping work issues from
intruding into family time isn't always easy. Wilcox
recalls a fishing trip he and his dad went on two
years ago.
" When we got in the car to drive to Canada, I
said, 'This is a family trip. I don't want to talk about
the bank until we're back at work. Not one word.'
Everybody agreed, and we did not talk shop for 10
days, which was amazing. "
Wilcox says there were some business issues
going on at the time, and he didn't want to ruin
the vacation, but it's not always easy to avoid shop
talk. " I think family dynamics are very interesting, "
he says. " I mean, there are good times and there
are challenging times. I think as long as people
can maintain the fact that business is business and
family is family, everybody generally comes out
feeling OK about it. "
Kathryn Jackson Fallon is a writer in New York.
Disagreements in family businesses are nothing new.
Most, however, end more amiably than these examples.
1
2
3
Gucci: Years of family disagreements and legal
battles over control of the luxury fashion brand resulted
in the family name being raked over the coals-and the
conviction of Patrizia Reggiani for the murder of her exhusband,
Maurizio Gucci, in 1995. During one of many
trials, a close associate said that the alliances in the
family seemed to change every five minutes.
McCain Foods: The company was founded and
run by four Canadian brothers who were the best of
friends before one of the brothers was forced out after
a disagreement over succession. He later took over
Canadian packaged meats company Maple Leaf Foods.
Viacom: Sumner Redstone owns a controlling
interest in Viacom, and his daughter, Shari Redstone,
owns the rest of the shares, so she seemed like the
likely successor. Except they had a very public falling
out. Eventually, someone else was appointed as
Sumner's successor. Shari voted against it. Add to the
mix a former spouse and various paramours, and the
only thing certain about who's on first-or second-with
Viacom is that no one can be sure.
4
Haft family: Herbert Haft was a multimillionaire
discount retail magnate with several retailers under his
control, but his business came apart very publicly as
the result of a family feud. When he took his wife off of
a board and fired his son, neither took kindly to these
moves, resulting in years of suits and countersuits.
Sumner Redstone
battled for control
of Viacom with his
daughter, Shari
Redstone.
independentbanker.org Q 63
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Independent Banker - July 2019

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