Buy In, Don't Work In
Refuse to be an employee — even in the family business. Own equity or leave.
Out of Harvard Business School, Kraft joined his father-in-law's box plants out of respect for his wife (effectively an only child). He gave it two years, then planned to leave because 'I didn't want to be working for other people, even if they were relatives.' Asked what would make him stay, he answered: let me buy in. With favorable interest rates he did a leveraged buyout of half the company, then took over a paper mill in Canada (offering his father-in-law half, who passed). That LBO became the platform — 51 years later, International Forest Products operates in 120+ countries and is a top-six paper-and-packaging firm. The principle: salary is renting your time; equity is owning the upside, and control is non-negotiable even when the comfortable path is to stay an employee.
- If you'd otherwise leave, ask for equity, not a raise.
- Control matters more than comfort — don't stay an employee in a business you could own.
- Use favorable financing windows to buy in rather than build from zero.
- Respect can get you in the door; ownership is what keeps you.
Two years into the family box business, ready to walk. When pressed to stay, instead of negotiating salary or title he negotiated ownership — an LBO of half the company — and then expanded on his own terms via the Canadian paper mill.