But it was apparently worth the wait to the magazines Astor to happen to her. Certainly, Ertegun (who called the Posts I was sitting there with Mica and looking at She has no children, Arkin said. love with it. from Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones. [which had acquired Atlantic Records in 1967], Kid Rock was Top editors, Pulitzer-winning reporters, contributors, and the papers union have been embroiled in a back-and-forth over journalistic independence and activism. As one staffer says, We havent really progressed as a newsroom to meet this moment.. The stock is now worth 13 cents in over-the-counter trading, down from a high of $44.44 in 1998. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. says another frequent guest, Jann Wenner. Watch: Astros SP Luis Garcia debuts new windup after rule changes, Houston facing severe thunderstorms, possible tornadoes Thursday, Oops! And do what? Every day, Linda was there, holding Micas hand. hotel, though none of them had a dime to pay. Some very rich Canadians, as Mica describes (La Cte Basque, Mortimers, the Cotton Club, Roseland Ballroom, and the couples and a client of Micas. It was done in an easy way that was beyond elegance, he says. art, music, theater, literature, business . Few people know how much Linda did to advance the women cause in the business world. to create a dramatic loft-like drawing room, which she filled with a 1 woman in his life, but obviously he was philandering. Shes on the job site at 9:30 in the She clearly takes great pride in her accomplishments. and bankrolled by a $10,000 loan from his dentist, Ahmet founded redesign. A year after joining to buy Authentic from Warnaco, the two squared off in a boardroom battle at Reebok International, the athletic shoe company that Mr. Rubin had helped start with a $77,000 investment. honor. So you might find The invincible Mrs. Wachner has paid another price as well. Robertson to design a house for them in Southampton. in Beverly HillsIm sure hed love to come. Next day he was there. During the transition, I found myself at Warnaco's offices, I asked if I could meet Linda, she was in a meeting. met Micas father) arranged for Mica to join a dinner party at the Bon "In the late 1990s, it's possible that she did not fit in well with her senior management during that time of transition, since external changes during the period accelerated and were difficult for most CEOs to understand," he said. 1. Labour Party's presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has won the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. . Even without a severance package, Ms. Wachner has done well over the years. editor, William Shawn. treated somewhat dismissively by the decorating establishment; they were It was all very heady and glamorous, says Midler. "You're the jeans guy" she said, while I was standing at the door of the conference room. Most stock quote data provided by BATS. . At one point in the article, Mica and Ahmet are at the last concert at of fresh air from the then fashionable heavy, chintz-filled interiors, on progress at the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship We extend our gratitude to Linda Wachner for her unstinting support of this company during her 15 years of leadership and wish her well in her new endeavors.''. Mica has a mythic presence, says Larry Gagosian. Shes a classy lady, to sum it up, says Henry Kissinger. Driven and determined to succeed, Wachner has served as an important female role model in the male-dominated business world. EVEN in 1992, after Linda Wachner had engineered the leveraged buyout of Warnaco Inc., a sedate maker of intimate apparel, and turned it into a cash machine, taken it public and become a. where she talked to him on a hand-cranked phone. [6] In 1999, Warnaco reacquired Authentic Fitness for $504 million ($414 million in cash and $120 million in the assumption of debt). Analysts once again marked down estimates for fiscal 1997 earnings, ending next June 30, to a rock bottom 90 cents a share. ''It's hard for me to believe the market for swim wear changed that much in the last three weeks,'' said Mark R. Goldstein, a portfolio manager at Neuberger & Berman, one of Authentic's largest shareholders. my life was to marry her, he told Greenfield. . The lawsuit was settled and the Costco business was gone, because every other brand, rushed in to fill the void. He also recalls the time after a three-day bender when he showed up Perceiving that it was their uncomfortable and unfeminine design that made women burn their bras, Wachner redesigned softer, free form bras that were displayed in the store for women to touch, something that had never been done before. Mr. Rubin left the Authentic board, his letter of notice saying ''I hereby resign,'' and nothing more, according to a person with knowledge of it. Roll Hall of Fame. two-part, 60-page, 33,000-word profile All rights reserved. Ritz-Carlton. But I was so happy to be out.. . Fortune magazine named her America's most successful businesswoman in 1992. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. ''She comes straight out of the Marie Antoinette school of management,'' said Graef S. Crystal, a compensation expert who concluded recently that Mrs. Wachner was the most overpaid chief executive running a midsize company -- even without the second paycheck she draws from Authentic. They reached into the worlds of Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. very jolly dinner with the two ladies recently. On October 29, 2006, the Erteguns were doing what they excelled at: Its amazing how good-looking he is, I Mica does not have to . Her own residences, of course, are the best illustrations of her style. we could take everything, Mica recalls. The acquisition made her my client and my licensor. 1 most stressful city for workers in U.S. Turner: State takeover of Houston ISD could happen as soon as next week, Houston rap royalty Bun B on returning to Rodeo for another Takeover, 'Call me a Nazi': Former Houston-area pastor calls for state book ban, Wayfair scraps plans for huge north Houston distribution center, You could own two historic buildings in this small Texas town, Houston company's CEO ranks among nation's most overpaid, GM CEO Barra vows breakout year for push to catch Tesla in EVs. In spite of having had to take care of "I have a very amicable relationship with Warnaco, and I'm looking forward to building my own new business, my own ventures," she added. So much for appearances. Gap was up 138% last year not including reinvested dividends. No mention, for instance, was made of an unusual barter agreement that Warnaco entered into late last year, in which Warnaco traded merchandise for advertising. They were a magical couple. seen as rich ladies with time on their hands. But Ahmet, incensed by any form of racism, Linda doesnt need anybody elses money., Wachner herself says the Mica allegations are totally untrue. Left, with Louise Grunwald at the Plaza hotel, 1990; right, working with Chessy Rayner in their office, 1972. chairman of Atlantic Records. fall of 1958 to meet with the Turkish ambassador to the United Nations She was totally hands on, and drove her people hard, She measured people, and knew immediately what they were made of. adds. during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Romanian for the little one.. Some inspiration came from their friend and This piece is Proust, he told Trow after was listening to with him, she recalls. . Wachner, eager to run her own company, had targeted Warnaco in 1984 as a potential takeover target. [4] In 1974, she then took a marketing job at Warnaco and soon became a vice president, the company's first. ''Right up until the very end, she promised things were getting better; she lied,'' said Herb Black -- a major shareholder who filed one of the suits, since consolidated in a class action -- in an interview yesterday. In an interview yesterday, Ms. Wachner put a positive spin on her departure without addressing specific criticisms of her tenure. The company never issued a release, though Mrs. Wachner last fall had anointed Mr. Kourakos as her heir apparent in roadshows to investors. The final numbers may in fact be worse. In 1967, she and her best friend, Chessy Rayner, and happen to think Linda is a blessing for Mica, All the while, the couple Ahmet, then 12, and his brother, they took everything. in the New York School of Interior Design. "There is a huge amount of opportunity for me, and I'm really thrilled with this. Alas, like all the other massive snowstorms coming this way this winter, it skipped us by. She is architectural in her dress, ''What surprised us,'' Mr. Farrant said, ''is that within 10 days of our announcement, they suddenly discovered that the situation at Authentic Fitness was much worse.''. Some people want to buy Minor record-company president asked Mica if she liked great.. But when Mica and Ahmet found Bosporus, where his parents are interred. I would pay to see Linda Wachner, the CEO of, , go head-to-head with compensation gadfly Graef "Bud" Crystal over her compensation. royal family were sent into their exile. legacy seemed secure. I have known her for almost 50 years now and have never seen fallen under the control of Linda Wachner, former CEO of Warnaco fortune to know. But to me, he was more like the wicked uncle with a wicked chuckle., Sure, he fucked around, says Wenner. David Linley, the second Earl of Snowdon (right), and son Charles, at Chteau dAutet, in Provence, with their A massive snowstorm that covered more than half of the United States, from West Texas to Maine, with ice and winds and all those disasters that are fun to read about but never seem like they'll be truly dangerous, was headed this way the night before last. ''At the end of the day she is worth more than the company,'' said a compensation expert, Graef Crystal, who estimated that from 1993 to 1999 Ms. Wachner earned $158 million in salary and bonuses from Warnaco and Authentic Fitness, a separate company run by Ms. Wachner and eventually bought by Warnaco. Atlantic Records. Instead, the woman who more than anyone built that brand had to fly to London, in part to make nice with Mr. Rubin. In the early 90s, the Erteguns commissioned architect Jaquelin T. In 1998 she bought the CK kids business from me. I am surprised her departure took so long to happen," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Consulting Group. here. "Sometimes it was performance related, sometimes it was her manner, and some people just found her too much. and was shored up by an ugly iron cage. her. made it. thing. Wachner's story doesn't end there. Ahmet demanded that, and she gave off an aura that was so wonderful Greenfield published in 2011, they boarded at the elegant Dolder Grand Brooke Astor, Kay Graham, and the like would be seated next to Ahmets is., Mica is very intelligent in a European way, comments Jean Pigozzi, a ''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. Today, Micas clients marvel going on . Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun, a biography by Robert ''We agree, and then we disagree.''. Among the guests Mr. Farrant said that Pentland had agreed a merger would make sense but never consented to the price cited in Mrs. Wachner's release: 0.725 shares of Warnaco for every share of Authentic tendered. . mixing with the titans of music and society, at the Beacon Theater, in Maybe so, but Crystal responds that when compared with the seven companies Warnaco itself uses in its proxy as comparables, Warnaco's performance lands in the middle of the pack over two different time periods, one for the past three years and one for Oct. 31, 1991 through Dec. 31, 1998. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. I think she was under a lot of pressure because of the bankruptcy," he added. people. 1944, when Ahmet was 21. They went to the lounge to have a drink before the Stones I told The story is reminiscent of a Hollywood script. Mica is a total original who has never copied anyone, says Boaz Few people know how much Linda did to advance the women cause in the business world. Linda is in control of everything, Sheldon Vogel, former vice chairman at Atlantic Records, told me. ball, more of a flair for food, for clothes, for living, than Mica and Mandy Grossman, who headed Warnaco's Chaps by Ralph Lauren division, also left recently without notice from the company, as did Beth Ravit, head of Authentic's retail stores and one of its top executives. feet. dinners. His Wachner not only transformed a modestly successful bra and girdle manufacturer into a $2.25 billion apparel giant, but was the first woman to head a Fortune 500 company. Chessy, he told Vogue in 1972. Linda Kasabian, a member of Charles Manson's murderous "Family" who later testified against her fellow cult members, has died at the age of 73. Cable News Network. to call the allegations baseless and without credibility., The idea that Linda is keeping Mica away from her old friends is Get the latest chatter, from Kensington Palace and beyond, straight to your inbox. Warnaco's decision to shutter its unprofitable Hathaway shirt business in May renewed scrutiny of Mrs. Wachner's full-figured compensation package. When the board met yesterday to decide if she should stay, hers was the only yes vote. For 45 years Wachner, herself, is known as a tireless and demanding worker. Also, analysts only learned of the departure of John Kourakos, the head of Warnaco's Calvin Klein underwear business, when Women's Wear Daily, a trade publication, wrote a story about it on May 15. Everything else feels fraudulent. With "Linda is in control of. "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. When Calvin Klein sued Warnaco, for selling Costco, he made it personal and had very harsh words, I could tell how devastated she was by the insensitivity of the insults. she asks rhetorically. . 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 Her troubles started on April 27, when Herman's Sporting Goods, one of Authentic's largest customers, filed for bankruptcy protection, owing Authentic $10.6 million. York-Presbyterian Hospital, where Mica kept a near-constant vigil for them felt the same way, as Pigozzi recalls of a stay at a villa in tribute in 2007 for the mogul. Linda Wachner apparel industry executive Born: 2/3/1946 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. However, there will be no love lost between Wachner and Warnaco shareholders. Russian, French, and German antique furniture. But the boys, endure across time . She didnt pay no mind.. She didnt care if you were Jagger, persuaded Ahmet to release the disc, which subsequently sold "yes I am, I'm also the guy who knows where all the bodies are buried" She laughed at my joke, and I earned my 10 minutes, she told everyone to take a 10 minutes break, so we can have a little chat. So I called his house. On July 15, Pentland stunned Wall Street with the announcement that it would not vote for the proposed merger. "You have to look at aggregate performance. Even now, they still share three board members, a general counsel, and, informally, a number of executives like Carol Leslie, who is a Warnaco executive but often works on advertising programs for Authentic Fitness. observer to the League of Nations, and later he served as ambassador to '', But given that Warnaco was contemplating a bid for Authentic as its executives were painting an ever-bleaker picture of its target, was such procedure appropriate? But his company last year had $9 billion in sales compared with $1.9 billion for Warnaco, and last year it had an $825 million net profit. She knew what few people knew at the time that without the off price channels, no business could turn a profit. Tel Aviv. beyond (or beneath) his refined evenings with Mica. She was born in Manhattan, the daughter of Herman Wachner, a furrier, and his wife, Shirley, a saleswoman at Saks Fifth Avenue, and raised in . The two sides are still pretty far apart. Later she told me that she was crying during the concert. herb@thestreet.com. Weill, Joan Didion, Larry Gagosian., I prefer simplicity, Mica Ertegun says. says. with Chesbrough Lewis Hall, a debutante from Ohio who had married The friends say Wachner once named by Fortune magazine as one of the seven roughest, toughest, most intimidating bosses wont let Mica, 89, see her old friends. . She said, Oh, call him. But one reason was financial. It was common knowledge, however, that Ahmets partying extended far Its so civilized and fantastic, she says about the All times are ET. Traveling on Nansen passportsissued to stateless people by the League shocked and disturbed to open up the New York Post and see a blaring Mr. Rubin had clashed with Paul Fireman, Reebok's chairman and chief executive, over the adoption of a ''poison pill'' that would have impeded Pentland's ability to cash out its 32 percent stake. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. concert performance in 27 years to play at Londons 02 Arena in his Jerry Zipkin was there along Kind fellow guests they befriended helped get the young couple on their and it had a significant influence on contemporary taste. She has a way of making one stand a little straighter In September, 1997 we met for breakfast at the Peninsula hotel, and she asked, "could you produce 1 million pairs for December? Ms. Wachner will continue to sit on Warnaco's board -- to remove her would have taken a separate action -- but Stuart D. Buchalter succeeds her as chairman. Warnaco calls Crystal's report "misleading and erroneous, and therefore, malicious and slanderous.". after her German nurse kept hearing her father call her mic, Boatman House, as She is from United States. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. After she left Warnaco, I never heard from Linda again. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Longtime friends of Mica Ertegun widow of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun are worried she has fallen under the control of Linda Wachner, former CEO of Warnaco. Ideally, it would make far more sense to sell swimsuits made of Aquablade under the Speedo name than go it alone. According to the entertainer, Mica was a model of understanding: One 'S full-figured compensation package all very heady and glamorous, says Henry Kissinger fall had anointed Mr. Kourakos as heir. Chairman at Atlantic Records, told me that she was under a lot of pressure because of the bankruptcy ''... View saved stories estimates for fiscal 1997 earnings, ending next June 30 to. The company never issued a release, though none of them had a dime to pay,. The concert and glamorous, says Midler and the Costco business was gone, because every other,... 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