CHAPTER 3

CALIFORNIA GOLD

Herbert and Marion Sandler are a great American success story in many regards. From humble origins, they built a multibillion-dollar business together, serving for 43 years as co-CEOs of the company they built. Even as the company grew to become the second largest savings and loan (S&L) in the nation, the Sandlers preserved its mom-and-pop culture. They cared deeply about their customers—many of them poor—and retained personal connections with many longtime employees. Marion was even known to knit sweaters in business meetings, when she wasn’t running them. After they sold their company in 2006, the couple didn’t go on a buying spree but put most of their fortune in a charitable foundation.

Nature and nurture seemed ...

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