These kind of problems seem to be a pervasive pattern when family tendrils snake their way into a business. I know of a similar business that has had an almost

These kind of problems seem to be a pervasive pattern when family tendrils snake their way into a business. I know of a similar business that has had an almost similar implosion. Run by a patriarch and matriarch husband-and-wife duo, a small fortune (much less than the company in this article) of money was made in a niche manufacturing sector. The patriarch proceeded to take large chunks of the fortune and hemorrhage it out into passion projects (he also owned a thoroughbred racing company that bled money, just like the people in the article!). Husband and wife would often times argue and try to bring employees into their drama and force them to take sides. Divorce was threatened several times. Family members all worked for the company and came in to get a scoop of the ice cream. The company’s core business didn’t really diversify since the owner was focusing on all of these money wasting pet projects and as such when their main client scaled back their business the company became a shadow of what it once was. Bottom line: mixing family into your business can turn out to be a risky maneuver.