It was all part of an ongoing battle among the Hafts, the latest contenders for the title of corporate America’s most dysfunctional family. Since early this spring, 72-year-old Herbert and 40-year-old Robert Haft have locked horns over who would head the $1.3 billion Dart Group, which owns stakes in Crown–the nation’s third largest book merchant-and businesses such as Trak Auto, a discount-auto-parts chain. After Robert broached a plan for succeeding Herbert, the elder Haft booted him from the boards of Dart and Crown and also removed Gloria, who has supported her son. The denouement came last week after Herbert signed a proxy statement referring to Robert’s conduct as “obstructive and destructive” and reportedly relieved him of all duties. Herbert and other company officials have declined to confirm the firing. Robert, who was informed of the dismissal by a reporter, says he welcomes a reconciliation. “My heart is always open to my father,” he told NEWSWEEK.
In happier times, the two Hafts’ hearts seemed as one. “Bobby” joined his father in the family business in 1977 fresh out of Harvard Business School. After creating Crown, he became his father’s partner in attempting to take over companies such as Safeway and Jack Eckerd Corp. Herbert, in particular, earned a reputation as a hard-nosed dealmaker. “Herbert follows the golden rule,” says Leonard Rodman, owner of Rodman’s Discount Drugs.“He with the gold makes the rules.”
Despite differences in management style (Herbert was self-taught, Robert took the business-school approach), the pair had remarkably similar tastes-right down to their matching Jerry Lee Lewis-style pompadours. Robert regularly jetted to the office from the family mansion on Nantucket; Herbert was often seen running errands in his limo. Recalls a former consultant to the company: “We used to call them Biff and Boff, tweedledees with the same hair.”
What caused the relationship to unravel isn’t entirely clear. The family, which includes daughter Linda and son Ronald, has not publicly discussed the feud. But a source says Herbert was furious when Robert broached the idea of succeeding him and began to find ways to wrest what control his son already had. The source says Herbert ignored Robert’s requests that the two continue operating as a team and thwarted reconciliation pleas from his mother and sister. According to a former board member, Herbert also clashed with Robert and several directors over the future of the family’s real-estate holdings. The final blow came in April when Robert acknowledged to The Wall Street Journal that the company’s earnings had been uneven. “[Monarchs] are threatened by the hoofbeats of successors behind them,” says Emory University’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.
How will the Haft family feud affect Dart’s bottom line? Industry experts say Robert’s imprint on the company has been enormous; since he started Crown in 1978 the number of stores has grown to 248. “He applied the same principles his father applied in the drug business to the book business and managed to shake it up significantly,” says Bernard Rath, executive director of the American Booksellers Association. In his father’s eyes, perhaps he learned those principles a little too well.
