For Mark Rosenthal, working in the family business is a game of pluses and minuses that’s not only exhilarating, it can be painful.
“I did not have to struggle through the ranks,” said Rosenthal, whose father George and grandfather David founded Santa Monica-based Raleigh Enterprises 33 years ago as a construction and real estate development company. “I had an edge.”
But the edge cuts two ways. Rosenthal began working in the family business by watering plants for $1 an hour at the Sunset Marquis & Villas in Hollywood. He said there are emotional issues that fathers and sons must resolve before they can be successful business partners, principally the son as the subordinate to the father personally and professionally.
“You have to establish credibility within the organization,” said Rosenthal, 38. “But there are emotional issues that a father has to deal with, such as when to reprimand or correct you. This is appropriate for someone who is a boss, but it also has an effect on the ego of the child. I’ll always be my father’s kid. You have to work through these issues.”
Rosenthal’s younger sister, who worked for the company for 10 years before quitting to pursue a career in law, could never resolve those issues, he said. It was painful to her when their father made a curt reply to her that a non-family employee might have taken as part of the ebb and flow of business.
“She felt the requirements for business were incompatible with their personal relationship,” he said. “She had a hard time dealing with that stress.”
Raleigh Enterprises is a diverse company, owning such assets as the Sunset Marquis; Raleigh Film and Television Studios in Hollywood; Lee Brevard Jewelry; Malibu Hills Vineyards; and File Keepers, an archival business-records management company. It also operates Raleigh Studio Manhattan Beach, which is owned by Shamrock Holdings.
The company, which has 400 employees, generates annual revenues of about $50 million not bad for a firm that was founded by a Russian & #233;migr & #233; and his son, both of whom were plumbers from Medford, Mass.
“My grandfather and my father were partners and did not have the same issues as I did,” said Rosenthal, who is executive vice president and chief operating officer.
After graduation from UCLA Law School, he mulled over offers from local law firms but returned to the family business as corporate counsel. He currently overseas five divisions of the company, as well as its legal department.
“My father (now 67) is a tremendous visionary, but not a good manager,” Rosenthal said. “I am not a tremendous visionary, but I am a good manager.”
Rosenthal said a key to the business relationship would be to keep open the lines of communication.
“It’s important to have a good relationship with a parent before you mix in business,” he said. “Parents are not perfect; children have to be patient. It’s important to talk about what they both like and don’t like.”
Frank Swertlow
