He had pored over the reports and
strategies that Matthew collected, giving particular attention to
a recent Harvard Business School study that described a
phenomenon with which every successful company must eventually
contend. It stated that by the time a business is ten years old,
its original founders have left. There were exceptions, of
course. The founding pair of Hewlett-Packard, for example, had
remained with the company for several decades and both still held
directorial roles. And, a little closer to the issue at hand was
ICP, which was founded in the 1930s by Jonathan Holmes, who had
stayed on for half a century before turning the business over to
his son, Byron. But in most cases the departure of a founder was
a natural occurrence. Typically, he or she left to begin a new
venture, however the second most prevalent manner of departure
was less amicable; the founder was forced out of the company
because he or she was hampering rather than helping the company.
If anyone could appreciate this it was Hank. Three years ago he
had persuaded Peter to let him begin a worldwide search for a
candidate who could take his place as president of Wallaby,
managing its day-to-day operations. What's more, it was Hank who
had recommended Matthew after reading about him in "Business
Week." The story had commended Matthew's successes at
International Foods, noting that he was one of the youngest and
most effective Fortune 500 presidents, and speculating that he
was being groomed by International's stuffy and conservative
chairman, Rolland Worthy, to take the elder's place when he
retired.
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