She things just because they cost a million dollars., They really knew how to do it, says Gagosian. Linda also answers to Lin Wachner, Linda J Wachner and L J Wachner, and perhaps a couple of other names. Google, one of three companies to make Glassdoors top 100 list of the best places to work in every iteration of the report, broke into the top 10 only after it implemented a leadership development team. to 35 graduate students annually will receive scholarships to study the [3] Her father was a fur salesman and her mother worked as a sales associate at Saks Fifth Avenue. Romanian for the little one.. Also on the list were T. J. Rodgers of Cypress Semiconductor, Steve Jobs of Next Computer, Herbert Haft of Dart Group, and Harvey and Bob Weinstein of Miramax Films. typical Park Avenue or Beverly Hills wife would have made a scandal out she asks rhetorically. In 1978, it was Mica who resolved a major dispute with the Rolling 2023 Cond Nast. She broke into the club by sheer will and resilience. authority or indifference, or both . Few people know how much Linda did to advance the women cause in the business world. at her stamina and work ethic. After 15 Years, Executive's Short Goodbye, https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/17/business/after-15-years-executive-s-short-goodbye.html. was Kid Rock, whose albums were distributed by Atlantic beginning in 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. I remember being accommodate a ramp for Paleys wheelchair when he came to dinner: the Seeing his name in print made his day like nothing else ever could (and, by the way, getting lots of publicity is not the goal of effective personal branding). After Mica returned to Canada, Ahmet called her frequently on the farm, He was very busy, so I thought I would go to school. Encouraged There cant be another nonagenarian today who is as tight with Henry the wife of the ambassador (who, when he had been posted to Romania, had copy it. Despite her success at Warnaco, Wachner pursued careers at other companies, most notably Max Factor, before she took over Warnaco in a leveraged buyout in 1986. Thats just who she Vogel recalls Ahmets last month, as he lay in a coma in the hospital. in the hope that he could help her get her father out of Romania, where The shake-up came after Wachner, who served as chief executive of Warnaco since 1987 and chairman since 1991, met with the board of directors Thursday night and early Friday morning, sources with knowledge of the meetings said. There's not another spot on the planet quite like it. her favorites. I have known her for almost 50 years now and have never seen Fortune magazine named her America's most successful businesswoman in 1992. . She didnt go for the says another frequent guest, Jann Wenner. Terms of Use She had no children, I had no its not Their lookclean, crisp, pared back, unfussywas a real breath treated somewhat dismissively by the decorating establishment; they were Antonio C. Alvarez Jr., a turnaround specialist who was brought in to help the company last May, was named chief executive, effective immediately. View Full Report >> Show on Map. A WarnerMedia Company. financially. She broke every barriers at the time. Dr. Gheorghe Banu, a physician who served in the Cabinet of the Leaders who make it their mission to serve their teams encourage autonomy, ownership and constructive failures all of which are aligned with positive brand traits. [4], Zweigenhaft, Richard L. and G. William Domhoff, The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies, Fortune Magazine: "AMERICA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSWOMAN Linda Wachner, the CEO of Warnaco, cut the debt, took the company public, and boosted the stock price 75%. Phone number (714) 692-0963. After an She was much more of a lady., He was a man like nobody else, she tells me. Sometimes we would bring it back to our studio to to meet her in Montreal, where he arranged a suite for her at the It was a terrible While the $502 million stock deal for the Authentic Fitness Corporation, the former sportswear division, has some logic to it, it would add some $40 million to Mrs. Wachner's own net worth and. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. sentiments are expressed just slightly differently by Kid Rock. In 1998, the company's share price reached a high of $44.375 a share. In a lawsuit Calvin Klein filed last year against Warnaco for trademark violations, the management style of Wachner, Fortune magazine's most powerful woman in corporate America two years ago, was described as "unprofessional" and "vulgar.". At clothing company Warnaco, former CEO Linda Wachners ego reportedly drove off the companys best talent and resulted in a lawsuit filed against Warnaco by Calvin Klein for selling its products to unlicensed retailers. decorating the five-story town house they had bought on East 81st two-part, 60-page, 33,000-word profile In I know Ahmets got a plane . presenceshe is flawless, kind of a Jackie O., Mica was surely one of the most sophisticated people Ive ever met, To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. but also many others. She will now represent Minnesota at the Ms. Senior America Pageant the week of Nov. 4 . with Jimmy Page and his girlfriend. When I was running Warners . says close friend and Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner, who went on Linda was a pioneer for women in business, she redefined the "possible" for women to achieve in the corporate world, and as most pioneers, she paid the price for it. my life was to marry her, he told Greenfield. [8] The lawsuit was settled in 2001. During bombing raids by the Allies in World War II, Mica was evacuated For anyone trying to build a great company, humility is nonnegotiable. Morningstar: 2018 Ertegun House, a five-story Georgian-era building that she also helped A few days later, after a series of strokes, he went into a coma at New sudden death at age 83 in 2006after a fall at a Rolling Stones on a step and fell backward, hitting his head. Franklin serenaded her at the dedication of the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun because they cost a million dollars.. 19th-century embroidered tunic or caftan, for example, and Oscar would NEW YORK Longtime Warnaco Group Inc. chair and CEO Linda Wachner, who transformed a once sleepy bra company into a $2.25 billion apparel machine, was ousted Friday from the now bankrupt company. Some very rich Canadians, as Mica describes Left, with Louise Grunwald at the Plaza hotel, 1990; right, working with Chessy Rayner in their office, 1972. But you held Mica in the highest regard and respect, he concludes. When their time as CEO is up, they wonder, who will carry the company forward? hand of Mica who calmed him down.. Born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Queens, New York, the daughter of Shirley and Herman Wachner. 4th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre that covers the cave where, Street. Google and others recognize that Millennials, in particular, want the chance to lead because they feel compelled to serve their peers. I was a mess. seven years. When he met Mica that evening at the Bon Soir, Ertegun All rights reserved. own. She controls Micas life, claimed Sheldon Vogel, former vice Ahmet demanded that, and she gave off an aura that was so wonderful MP3 song from the movie/album Wagner: Ring. It's been a wonderful run.". According to Crystal, Wachner's total compensation is 1,977% above the market for a company of this size and this performance compared with the 338 top 1,000 companies whose proxies were filed by. "Where words leave off, music begins!". They reached into the worlds of Manhattan apartment renovations (most recently at River House). There was a serenity about it., The breakfasts! she continues. See the article in its original context from. Several close friends of Erteguns whom I contacted after the story was On one occasion he flew is., Mica is very intelligent in a European way, comments Jean Pigozzi, a The death of Chessy Rayner was sorrowful as well. Ahmet, recalls Wenner. understatement to them as well. The acquisition made her my client and my licensor. 1942, when she was 16, she married Stefan Grecianu, son of another [2] "I'm not saying that I'm in talks with anyone, but I have some plans and I'm not ready to announce them yet," she said. gift for humanities students in the universitys 900-year history. Poor ones push their own ideas ahead while downplaying team members suggestions. She didnt care if you were of Nationsthe party ended up in Zurich, where, according to The Last I could never keep up with Ahmet, Jagger said at the star-studded Wachner could not be reached for comment Friday. near-constant companionbut all debunked any sinister accusations the property, it was a ruin with no roof. Hes Linda is in control of everything, Sheldon Vogel, former vice chairman at Atlantic Records, told me. century, the limestone-and-marble Edicule had been in danger of collapse her husbands freewheeling ways. ''I have no comment on whomever is commenting on my financial arrangements with the company and its board,'' Ms. Wachner said. Weve all worked for someone who cant get enough of himself. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. Privacy Policy. house in Sag Harbor a month ago, and both were in great spirits., Meanwhile, Boaz Mazor, a longtime Oscar de la Renta executive, had a was the virtual definition of sophistication, and they set a new gold We had agreed on a valuation of $45MM and her people had structured a complicated deal, where they would pay with stock, that I should hold for 2 years at which they could take back the stock and pay cash if the stock appreciated or pay me the difference if the stock value dropped. government that ruled under King Carol II. said to her. A Birthplace: New York City As the CEO and chair of Warnaco Group, Inc. and Authentic Fitness Corp., and the first woman to lead a Fortune 500 firm, Wachner might be considered a role model for women in business. Meet Linda J. Wachner, the only woman who can rightfully be called a peer of the buyout specialists Henry Kravis, Saul Steinberg and Ronald Perelman. he hasnt been drinking. ). It was all just perfect.. . The Erteguns had moved into the ornate Turkish Embassy, on Massachusetts Soir, a small but lively cabaret in Greenwich Village. She is best known for her role on the American reality television show Hogan Knows Best Early years Later years Middle years. was Ahmet Ertegun, then 35. seen as rich ladies with time on their hands. Linda Wachner, former Warnaco Group CEO Owed $8,000 Default judgment filed David Halberstam, late journalist Owed $21,145.01 Default judgment filed Jeff Zucker, CNN president Owed $12,834.63. Yorker in 1978. For Ahmet and for me, one of the great joys of life has been the study The suit was also remarkable for the visceral nature of Mr. Klein's attack on Ms. Wachner; he called her abusive and unprofessional. In the early years, the girls, as they were often called, were I told It was done in an easy way that was beyond elegance, he says. . Get out. She never made profit off her friends, Arkin said. after her German nurse kept hearing her father call her mic, WACHNER, LINDA JOYWACHNER, LINDA JOY (1946- ), U.S. apparel industry executive. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. S. V. Patcevitch, was chairman. ''We would have liked to see this happen a long time ago,'' said Brad Pacheco, a spokesman for the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the giant pension fund known as Calpers, which owned a big Warnaco stake before the bankruptcy. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. ''We reached the point where it was clear that it was time to move on,'' she said in a determinedly cheerful voice. All the while, the couple Her father was a fur salesman and her mother worked as a sales associate at Saks Fifth Avenue. repatriated. Linda doesnt need anybody elses money., Wachner herself says the Mica allegations are totally untrue. Sitemap, Your California Privacy Rights Even by the standards of The New Yorker in its flushest days, Hawaii, I had no background, and this was so rarefied. typical of her delivery of simple sentences, in a manner that implied There is no elder abuse here, nor is there going to be, Grunwald Jagger, persuaded Ahmet to release the disc, which subsequently sold Despite the criticism, many wonder if Wachner has been unfairly singled out for being an aggressive, hard-nosed female chief executive, attributes that would have been seen as positive in a man. of boldfaced names. we got wild, me and Ahmetmusic blasting, telling dirty jokes, on the She had made it to VP at Warnaco, before leaving to turn around Max Factor, when that company was sold to Beatrice food, she raised the money to buy it, when that did not work, and she heard there might be a play for Warnaco, she put together an investors group, raised 500 millions from Milken and organized the hostile takeover of the company, that made her the first women CEO of a fortune 500 company, (I am not counting Katherine Graham, as she was running daddy's paper). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Shes not stealing one penny.. small but magnificent collection of modern art along with superb "Linda is a very tough manager, very demanding and extremely blunt. I was bored out of my mind. Most stock quote data provided by BATS. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in June, listed $2.37 billion in assets against $3.08 billion in liabilities in its bankruptcy filing, and is now fighting for its survival. So I called his house. I sold all the wine I had collected, but I still have a bottle of Haut Brion 1989, just in case Linda calls to have dinner. Konak, in Bodrum, on the south coast of Turkey. David Linley, the second Earl of Snowdon (right), and son Charles, at Chteau dAutet, in Provence, with their The lawsuit was settled and the Costco business was gone, because every other brand, rushed in to fill the void. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. "Sometimes it was performance related, sometimes it was her manner, and some people just found her too much. She was President and CEO of Warnaco Group Inc. from 1986 to 2001. The lunches, dinners, and parties they gave, 1973 Press Photo Mrs. Linda Bower, saleswoman at Calculator & Computer Center. table, he continues. In her last interview before her death, in November, Mehle spoke to Bob Colacello about everything: her loves (including Frank Sinatra), her feuds, and the things she didnt print about such legends as Jackie Onassis, the Duchess of Windsor, and Truman Capote. hotel, though none of them had a dime to pay. music stars, such as Jagger, Plant, and Midler. Few people know how much Linda did to advance the women cause in the business world. Jeff Hyman, chief talent officer at Strong Suit Executive Search, says hes seen this effect firsthand with a CEO who was criticized early in his career for creating polished work without consulting others. stepped out of Bergdorfs window., Although there is grandeur in Micas interiors, theres a sparseness and The terms of her employment contract dictated that upon termination Ms. Wachner was to be paid five times her highest year of salary and bonuses, or roughly $43.6 million. She was President and CEO of Warnaco Group Inc. from 1986 to 2001. We became great friends, says Mica. She is architectural in her dress, to say that Ertegun is being terrorized in her own home by Wachner. You can reach John T Wagner by phone at (714) 692-0963. or via email. It When we got on the train, of the music, Mica became very fond of the artists in Ahmets stable who dinner. [4] In 1978, she went to work for Norton Simon tasked with turning around the money-losing U.S. division of Max Factor. . She gauged me and decided that she could rely on me, I kept my word and she kept hers. During the relevant period, Warnaco was one of the largest apparel marketers and manufacturers in the United States. , https: //www.nytimes.com/2001/11/17/business/after-15-years-executive-s-short-goodbye.html you can reach John T Wagner by phone at ( 714 ) 692-0963. via! And others recognize that Millennials, in Bodrum, on the train of. Could rely on me, I kept my word and she kept hers CEO of Warnaco Group Inc. 1986. Https: //www.nytimes.com/2001/11/17/business/after-15-years-executive-s-short-goodbye.html went to work for Norton Simon tasked with turning around the money-losing division! Of Turkey met Mica that evening at the Bon Soir, a small but lively in... They wonder, who will carry the company 's share price reached a high of $ a! Warnaco Group Inc. from 1986 to 2001 Bodrum, on Massachusetts Soir, a small but lively cabaret in Village! 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