I have no info on the winery or their internal politics, however if the head of a company was found to be limiting or harming the growth and potential of the company, then it is fair for the partners or board to replace the head with a better leader. Some may call it greed. shrug
in this case, it would have been better to some how cajole Gary to get on board, but lots I don’t know about the situation.
All that you can pick up is the line that they were profitable, were hitting all their sales numbers and returning money to the investors. I don’t care what business you are running, but when you pull a stunt like this and leave a respected/named partner holding 35% and very pissed off, you are heading for very choppy waters.
It sounds like the takeover was by a group interested more in growth, not necessarily quality. Normally growth requires additional investment for added facilities and more grape sources. That money can come from current profit, no longer being distributed to the stakeholders, or outside investment, requiring interest expenses or dilution of interest. It sounds like a risky proposition that should only be undertaken by an experienced, competent manager…oh wait, they just fired him. Impossible to tell how well prepared a takeover it was nor what kind of leadership will be provided and ill feelings between stakeholders is not a recipe for success.
It’s a stupid/short-sighted/foolish/bull-headed move by Gary’s sister-in-law.
I had a nice visit w/ Gary last Aug when I was there. Just chatting for an hour or so.
The wnry was doing just fine, selling everything they could make. My guess is that Gary will be pushed
out the door and removed from day-to-day operations. Whoever would step into Gary’s position (probably Jeanne)
would be stepping into a swamp. GaryEberle is EberleWnry. Without Gary, the wnry is just a winemaking facility.
Gary’s brother is in an Alzeheimer’s care facility. Jeanne convinced him to give her power of attourney for his affairs.
This scenario has been played out before in this great Nation. It’s something Gary should be able to fight in court and
the court will decide whose power-of-attourney is in his brother’s best interest.
Not to worry about Gary. He will land on his feet. He’s done it before & will do it again. He’s too young to turn out to pasture.
I predict he’ll eventually be sitting in the head seat at EberleWnry sometime in the future. He’s one of JoePaterno’s products.
That counts for quite a lot. Gary would be on the phone w/ JoePa right now…were that a posibility.
Tom
What a terrible condundrum. He has to continue on as the ‘face’ of the winery that he founded, but was ousted from? What possible incentive does he have to continue making wine for the label now??
Do we know if the ‘majority owners’ made this announcement publicly or did Gary do so?
Also, yes, I’m sure he ‘wants’ the winery to be profitable, but without being able to make ‘business decisions’, which, in our industry, goes hand in hand with winemaking and marketing, not sure how this is gonna work out . . .
Which means he will either have to work his butt off to protect his investment, while having no control over the strategy, or else walk away and risk someone else screwing it up totally.