In many family businesses, itâs the younger generation thatâs eager to charge ahead and the elders who rein them in. At Summer Classics, a Pelham, Ala.-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury outdoor furniture, those roles are reversed. Founder and CEO William Bew White III, known as Bew, is the risk-taker. His son William Bew White IV, known as William, is more cautious.
Bew, 69, says he has an MBA in mistakes â âpossibly much more educational than an MBA from Harvard, and a lot more expensive.â