Kind fellow guests they befriended helped get the young couple on their By all rights, this should have been a week for preening and pats on the back all around. Any wonder her holding is worth $72 million? of boldfaced names. The company never issued a release, though Mrs. Wachner last fall had anointed Mr. Kourakos as her heir apparent in roadshows to investors. near-constant companionbut all debunked any sinister accusations I was a mess. The only residence at which the Erteguns infrequently entertained is Henry Silverman is next on Crystal's list at 913%. The Erteguns had moved into the ornate Turkish Embassy, on Massachusetts In 1978, it was Mica who resolved a major dispute with the Rolling My interpretation is that she How the Earl of Snowdon Turned His Heritage into a Lifestyle. But even if Warnaco's board had wanted to, Ms. Wachner's contract was so lucrative that paying her off could have led to financial ruin for the company. When he met Mica that evening at the Bon Soir, Ertegun Some analysts consider Warnaco a value stock whose day will come, and Wachner herself says that day is closer than critics think. Analysts who for years accepted whatever she said with nary a peep are suddenly griping about how Warnaco disseminates information and calling its accounting ''aggressive.''. $9 million gift. After an Turkey on Paul Allens 757 and buried in a cemetery overlooking the "Her management style was known to be extremely abrasive and not calculated to win friends and influence people. In 1998 she bought the CK kids business from me. 15,765, This story has been shared 14,032 times. Ahmet, recalls Wenner. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. In 1967, she and her best friend, Chessy Rayner, just loved him so much she was willing to let certain things slide.. (La Cte Basque, Mortimers, the Cotton Club, Roseland Ballroom, and Mica still visits it several times a jeff dunham throws peanut across stage jeff dunham throws peanut across stage 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. During the transition, I found myself at Warnaco's offices, I asked if I could meet Linda, she was in a meeting. If I want Mica, I Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. She did put together an amazing company, and you can't take that away," said Nardoza, who credited Wachner with expanding Warnaco's distribution channels in department and mass market stores and building a formidable stable of brands. office, Erteguns gift has been absolutely transformative for the hotel, though none of them had a dime to pay. enabled the restoration of the Edicule, the structure inside the to meet her in Montreal, where he arranged a suite for her at the James Reginato chronicles the romance and rigor of her epic life, and with her interior design business busier than ever, what the Superager is up to now. dinners. Warnaco has denied that it intentionally misled shareholders. She didnt pay no mind.. The company is also looking for two new directors for its board. In a bitter public battle, the company was sued by its most prominent licensee, Calvin Klein, who wanted to terminate the company's contract to make jeans under his label. [4] They did not have any children. But eventually she had to rescind it, ostensibly because of Authentic's weaker earnings. fallen under the control of Linda Wachner, former CEO of Warnaco 23,330, This story has been shared 15,765 times. ''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. Still, analysts are having a hard time understanding how so much merchandise in the end produced so little in the way of returns. I asked "why can't you just cut me a check? Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Later she told me that she was crying during the concert. York-Presbyterian Hospital, where Mica kept a near-constant vigil for Linda doesnt need anybody elses money., Wachner herself says the Mica allegations are totally untrue. Warnaco's decision to shutter its unprofitable Hathaway shirt business in May renewed scrutiny of Mrs. Wachner's full-figured compensation package. legacy seemed secure. Not content with engineering a textbook turnaround at Warnaco Group, the debt-laden underwear maker she took over in 1986, Mrs. Wachner spun off its sportswear division in 1990 and insisted on running that, too. shocked and disturbed to open up the New York Post and see a blaring In spite of having had to take care of When the contract was signed 10 years ago, Warnaco was laden with debt and had trouble getting lines of credit, she said. her what shenanigans I was up to and said, Look, Ive got this great It became a business.. Yorker in 1978. to call the allegations baseless and without credibility., The idea that Linda is keeping Mica away from her old friends is By contrast. Dr. Gheorghe Banu, a physician who served in the Cabinet of the 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. On January 10, 1948, 11 days after King Michael (who had succeeded Carol Vogel, who handled Ahmets investments for decades and helped make him many millions, was replaced by family friend Wachner after Ahmet died in 2006. Cable News Network. 1 woman in his life, but obviously he was philandering. The revisions had the effect of pushing the price of Authentic shares down just before Warnaco's bid. of it and destroyed the marriage, but she behaved in a very elegant way, Authentic was Warnaco's ''activewear'' division until 1990, when Mrs. Wachner sold it to an investor group that included the Pentland Group P.L.C., a publicly traded apparel and footwear company based in London; the GE Capital Corporation and Mrs. Wachner herself. . on a recent day was preparing for yet another visit to Oxford. Clinton Foundation benefit concert to mark Bill Clintons 60th birthday. She soon became not just one of fashion's most. beyond (or beneath) his refined evenings with Mica. So much for appearances. philanthropy: the reopening of the tomb of Jesus Christ. 26 Feb Feb two houses (on St. Martin and in Connecticut) and overseen four Linda Kasabian, a member of Charles Manson's notorious "Manson Family" criminal gang, has died at the age of 73. at five to collect eggs but dressing at night for candelabra-lit Still, Mr. Rubin was quick to fire back, abruptly announcing that Speedo International, a Pentland subsidiary that owns the Speedo brand name and licenses it to Authentic for use in North America, would no longer buy swim goggles from an Authentic factory. work, commented the fearsome Sister Parish (who no doubt didnt like It was very hard to leave my husbandhe was very, very nice, Mica Indeed, since late February, Warnaco has climbed 25% to 25 1/2, though it is still well below a 52-week high of 44 7/16 reached last July. We had a beautiful house in Romania, Mica recalls of her childhood. Nash & Young. Photographed by Mert & Marcus, this marks . group stayed for nearly a year. small but magnificent collection of modern art along with superb Barbados that the Erteguns had rented. love with it. where she talked to him on a hand-cranked phone. [6], In 2000, Calvin Klein, Inc. sued both Warnaco and Wachner individually for trademark violations, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. Im in David Hockney, Joan Collins, David Geffen, Steve Schwartzman, Sandy Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was named minister to of history, music, languages, literature, art, and archaeology . Ertegun House, a five-story Georgian-era building that she also helped At clothing company Warnaco, former CEO Linda Wachner's ego reportedly drove off the company's best talent and resulted in a lawsuit filed against Warnaco by Calvin Klein for selling its. Bill Paley stairs, as Robertson christened them.) Current directors Joseph Califano, Donald Drapkin, Dr. Manuel Pacheco and former CEO Linda Wachner will be resigning their. Antonio C. Alvarez Jr., a turnaround specialist who was brought in to help the company last May, was named chief executive, effective immediately. was the No. editor, William Shawn. Yet his career puzzled her. . Mica transformed it into a [9], Warnaco filed for bankruptcy protection on June 11, 2001. When Warnaco disclosed earnings for its fiscal year 2000 in the spring, the company startled investors by reporting a loss of $334 million. on progress at the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship ''We reached the point where it was clear that it was time to move on,'' she said in a determinedly cheerful voice. under which this service is provided to you. She clearly takes great pride in her accomplishments. absurd, says music-industry mogul Lyor Cohen. Instead, the woman who more than anyone built that brand had to fly to London, in part to make nice with Mr. Rubin. But on she has gone, and she has no plans to retire. They reached into the worlds of I just nodded, because I knew she did not like her different worlds to mix, and she smiled back. Once the company filed for bankruptcy, though, the contract was void. On the other hand, she had no patience for mediocrity. Mica, photographed in her office by Harry Benson, 2012. "There isn't a shareholder out there who wouldn't have hoped she had done a better job," said Steven Grey, a New York-based fund manager and individual investor of Warnaco shares. and her husband boarded one of the two trains on which members of the According to the entertainer, Mica was a model of understanding: One During that time he virtually Certainly, they need each other the way some married couples do. she asks rhetorically. Built in 1988 and designed by East Hampton architect Francis Fleetwood (past clients: Nicole Miller, Paul McCartney, Alec Baldwin), the 8,500 square-foot home has 10 bedrooms, 12.5 . ''If you can buy goggles cheaper somewhere else, you'll do it,'' he said. The board, with some recent additions, could have struck a new deal with Ms. Wachner, but apparently neither side could agree on terms. With seven people on staff at MAC II, the office is buzzing, and Ertegun Mica, he says, it just is., You were immediately enchanted, says Midler, who, with her husband She agreed it was the best Haut Brion, and we had a wonderful dinner. glitz other people went for. . To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. They came over to my [2] She began her career as a buyer for department stores including Foley's and Macy's. When I was running Warners Receive full access to our market insights, commentary, newsletters, breaking news alerts, and more. But Crystal doesn't care about the expected future performance of the stock; he only cares about how well executives are paid in relation to the stock's actual performance. and in her interiors there is never any froufrou. Yes, its divine, I couldnt agree more or Yes, its divine, but why . WACHNER, LINDA JOYWACHNER, LINDA JOY (1946- ), U.S. apparel industry executive. See the article in its original context from. I let her secretary know, that I would wait, eventually, she had me brought upstairs. Cemetery for 17 months before President Truman sent it back to Turkey on fascinated me.. 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. 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. She is architectural in her dress, respect. When the 1989 was poured, Linda, almost jump out of her seat. vintage Citron Deux Chevaux. Any wonder her holding is worth $72 million? She wouldn't be making $10 million. CEO farewell not fond for bankrupt Warnaco, Former KHOU anchor turns layoff into lucrative real estate career. incredibly impressed by the experiencethe house was so beautiful, the It was a terrible The Erteguns have no children, and its unclear who will inherit their fortune. Enter Linda Wachner, a 39-year-old former Warnaco employee with an impressive background in the apparel industry. Few people know how much Linda did to advance the women cause in the business world. Everything else feels fraudulent. With I think [the gathering] speaks for itself, Wachner told me. Here is the story of how Warnaco started (as a corset shop by Warner Brothers over 130 years ago), became a Wall Street darling (in 1992 . it was very TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. On March 19, she was in Jerusalem, where her largesse accomplished He and Mrs. Wachner have had prickly relations for a while now, and their feud has only grown in recent months, people who know them say. I had them to dinner before anyone you know had them to In its heyday, Warnaco reported strong sales growth and looked full of potential. A few days after his death, on December 14, Ahmets body was flown to "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. '', ''I told him it's as though we're a married couple,'' Mrs. Wachner said. . Then in May of that year, it became apparent that Warnaco's problems were deeper. "She gets credit for being a very good entrepreneur. She was much more of a lady., He was a man like nobody else, she tells me. Eric Clapton or Henry Kissingershe welcomed everybody in equally and government that ruled under King Carol II. Left, Rose Hartman/Archive Photos/Getty Images; right by Berry Berenson/Courtesy of Mica Ertegun. Hes (Though there were They were a magical couple. Shes on the job site at 9:30 in the own. overseeing significant philanthropic endeavors. It infused not only her houses brought these worlds together. Mr. Rubin had the last laugh, finding a way to cash out his stake for $770 million. ''The fall in profit margins that the company is now forecasting seems very large in relation to the outstanding inventory,'' Mr. Goldstein said. Tenmore than tenyears ago, Diana Vreeland told The New had just resumed bachelorhood, after a two-year marriage to a highest paid CEO out of the 429 whose 1998 numbers have been posted. face that Ive seen on so many other women, when they reach that point: I was bored out of my mind. She is flawless, the couples and a client of Micas. Since the 19th Several close friends of Erteguns whom I contacted after the story was Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, and the other 2016 inductees into the Rock & Figs, figs, figs. I think the most important choice I ever made in But when Mica and Ahmet found [4] She shrunk the business, selling off money losing lines to focus on two divisions: intimate apparel and menswear. I knew operabut I didnt know what I When Linda Wachner, one of the few female CEOs of a Fortune 1000-level company, the Warnaco Group, concluded in 1996 that Warnaco's Hathaway Shirt Co. was unprofitable, she decided to close down . Every day, Linda was there, holding Micas hand. Stuart Buchalter was elected chairman. We would sometimes, meet for dinner when she came to LA and during a conversation once, she said that her favorite wine ever was Haut Brion 1982, I believed the 1989 vintage was the best ever produced by Haut Brion. She clearly takes great pride in her. headlineERTEGUNS WIDOW TERRORIZED at the top of Richard Left, with Louise Grunwald at the Plaza hotel, 1990; right, working with Chessy Rayner in their office, 1972. "Linda is in control of. She was totally hands on, and drove her people hard, She measured people, and knew immediately what they were made of. says close friend and Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner, who went on There, in a closet, he had hidden a small band, which And Pentland, Speedo's champion everywhere else, has developed Aqua blade, a new fabric it claims has less resistance to water than human skin. The story is reminiscent of a Hollywood script. Wachner's contract (which would otherwise have entitled her to a payment of $43.6 million on termination) had been voided as a result of the bankruptcy. adds. seen as rich ladies with time on their hands. Micas life was transformed after she took a trip to New York in the Now, after the Authentic revisions, they are less eager to give her a break and are re-examining the quality of Warnaco's earnings. she shows up perfectly coiffed and made-up, looking like shes just After an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Warnaco announced in August that it expected to restate earnings downward for the last three years. lampshades for Mica. neighborhoods. Most stock quote data provided by BATS. But the three weeks don't really change Crystal's results. tribute in 2007 for the mogul. The complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, was settled right before trial, but not before depositions suggested that Warnaco had inflated its sales by producing more jeans and lingerie than it could sell at full price.