Now, in another enmity-packed episode, Herbert’s younger son, Ronald, is attempting to write Dad out of the script entirely. Last week Ronald, who was named his father’s heir apparent after the elder Haft’s estrangement from Robert, objected to an $18 million loan Herbert sought from the company. Alleging that the transaction was an improper use of company funds, Ronald exercised his right to buy $18 million worth of Dart stock, thereby diluting the patriarch’s majority position to 35 percent. Ronald also engineered the removal of the elder Haft from the board of Combined Properties, the fami-ly’s real-estate company. Dart Group is now being run by an outside board of directors that is charged with keeping it afloat while family members work out their differences. “Herbert put himself out on a limb,” says stock analyst Robert Robotti of Robotti & Eng, “and people sense it’s about ready to crash.”
Recognizing his precarious amposition, Herbert showed up at the Dart Group’s board meeting last week determined to preserve his power. He and other members of the Haft family did not return phone calls seeking comment about details of the closed-door session. But one insider gave the following account: two hours before the meeting, Herbert huddled with three of Dart’s four outside board members, including former Bank of New England chairman H. Ridgely Bullock, retail executive Bonita Wilson and investment-company executive Larry Schafran. They plotted to open the meeting, fire Ronald and then quickly adjourn. Sensing a setup, Ronald took refuge in another office and called Donald Bourassa, a friend and board member at Combined Properties. After nearly five hours of negotiations, Dart Group’s board passed a resolution allowing the four outside directors to take charge. In apparent retaliation for his ouster, Herbert, still a Combined shareholder, has called for Bourassa’s dismissal. “Herbert’s walking around with a blunt instrument trying to bludgeon anyone who doesn’t do what he says,” Bourassa says. “He fears whomever he can’t control.”
Who will prevail in the Haft family feud? Investors seem to be cheering for Ronald. Larry Callahan, manager of the Lindner Fund, believes the elder Haft’s removal will foster a better-managed company and boost the Dart Group’s stock further. By the end of last week Dart’s stock had soared 12 points to $88 per share because of investors’ belief that Dart might be better off without the man who founded it.
But don’t expect Herbert to be written out of the story. The battle with his eldest son, in fact, was continuing in full force in a Delaware courtroom last week. In rambling testimony, Herbert claimed that Robert once broke a bar glass and declared, “This is the way I’ll smash you.” Robert, meanwhile, charged his father with breaking employment contracts. As the Haft world turns, even some longtime family associates are shaking their heads over how protracted and grisly the battle has become. Says Leonard Rodman, owner of Rodman’s Discount Drugs, based in Rockville, Md.: “They remind me of the Pac-Man game on video. They’re now eating each other.”
Herbert ousts wife, Gloria, and his son after the press tags young Robert as Dart’s “de facto’ CEO
After 45 years of marriage, Gloria files for divorce; Robert sues Dad’s companies for firing him
Yikes! Herbert and his son Ronald sue Gloria, Robert and sister, Linda
Herbert and his favorite son, Ronald, make up by paying Gloria et al. an undisclosed sum of cash
Herbert’s last ally, Ronald, turns on him, too. The charge: attempting to dip big into the company till.
Ronald tries to persuade the board to give Dad the boot. It takes command, instead. Stay tuned.
