Chapter 20 - THE NORTHGATE YEARS
Northgate became one of my father’s company’s better acquisitions.
Not perfect.
Two properties underperformed.
Three exceeded projections.
Staff retention improved.
Capital renovations cost more than expected.
Overall return:
solid.
That mattered because people wanted the deal itself to become evil.
It wasn’t.
The process around it was corrupted by personal incentives and bad governance.
The asset did not know.
My mother-in-law’s reduced consulting fee was paid.
She used part to cover legal expenses.
Part invested.
No one cared.
My ex-husband’s new company eventually partnered with one Northgate facility on logistics services.
Conflict review first.
He disclosed everything.
No issue.
At an industry conference, someone asked him:
“Didn’t you lose a CEO job because your wife went into labor at a wedding?”
He answered:
“No. I lost a CEO job because I approved a plan that treated her possible labor as a scheduling problem.”
That quote circulated.
He hated attention.
I appreciated accuracy.
Then someone asked me:
“Did your baby save the company from him?”
“No.”
“Did your father fire him to protect you?”
“No. My father withdrew his recommendation. The independent board terminated him after review.”
“Do you forgive him?”
I stopped answering that question.
What mattered:
I trusted him as a father.
Not as a husband.
I respected his growth.
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I did not want the marriage back.
That was enough.
