Gratitude – The Basis for Ethics 289- Gratitude to the Stock Exchange
The continued existence and independence of the company was and
still is a major concern of the founders. Six founders with twenty chil-
dren between them was not an ideal situation to find a family successor.
After careful consideration it was decided to go public on the stock ex-
change. I am very grateful that we came to this decision more than twen-
ty years ago. It has greatly promoted the positive, independent develop-
ment of the company. Through going public, the company now has a
clear financial value. It became clear what investors were willing to pay
for a share in the company. By going public, the founders hit the jack-
pot. You would think that there would have been joy and gratitude at the
huge return, but my family and I had quite different concerns. - Sharing encourages greater gratitude
There is nothing wrong or unethical in going public. As a founder, I
had the right either to sell my shares at market value or to retain them.
But we can ask whether what is legal is also just. And that is what we
were doing in the Linsi family (4 children). Despite all the hard work
undertaken for the company, and the high risks it involved for the fami-
ly, we agreed we wanted to share the blessings of the stock exchange
with those who are disadvantaged.
So 70,000 shares were assigned to the Foundation, four lots of 8,000
shares each were transferred to the children, and about 18,000 remained
with the parents. It was also clear that we would not sell the shares, and
as the Linsi Group exercise an anchor function for the company. We can
all be grateful for this decision. The company has developed well, and
we are very happy about the continuing cooperation. Also, the market
capitalization today is around ten times larger than when we went pub-
lic. You will describe below what the U.W. Linsi Foundation has been
able to achieve. As a founding family and as benefactors we are grateful
to have chosen this path.