Chapter 4 - DANIEL’S COMPANY
Daniel hated the company as a teenager.
Then loved it at thirty.
Mercer Commercial Interiors began with Charles installing restaurant booths and hotel cabinetry.
By the time Daniel graduated college, it designed and built interiors for hotels, healthcare offices, restaurants, and corporate spaces across the Pacific Northwest.
Charles had vision.
Also ego.
Daniel had discipline.
He became COO at twenty-nine.
Monique never worked there full-time.
She preferred event design.
Still, Charles gave her projects.
Family.
Daniel complained privately.
“Dad treats revenue like affection.”
“What does that mean?”
“If he likes you, you get a contract.”
I laughed.
He did not.
When Daniel died in a cycling accident, the company had annual revenue around $38 million.
Charles owned 39%.
Daniel 27%.
Monique 14%.
Employee ownership trust and outside investors held the rest.
Daniel’s shares passed into the Daniel Mercer Family Trust.
Primary beneficiary:
Nina.
Family representative:
Me.
Corporate trustee:
First Mountain Trust Company.
Why a professional trustee?
Daniel insisted.
“If I die, Dad will tell everyone he knows what I would have wanted.”
I had laughed then.
Three years later, Charles did exactly that.
Daniel’s trust document gave me significant input but did not let me sell Nina’s shares freely.
Good.
I was not a corporate expert.
First Mountain handled fiduciary voting after the temporary proxy.
May you like
Except someone kept Charles in place.
For four years.
