In the early 1990s, a couple of years after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Martin Franklinwas asked by his father to break up a business. Sir Roland Franklinwas a long-time lieutenant of the late James Goldsmith, the British corporate raider. The task he set his son was to sell off DRG, a UK stationery company whose brands included Sellotape and Basildon Bond, piece by piece.
“I was 24, I was the CEO of a company that had 13,000 employees and trying to sell it off in parts,” says Mr Franklin. “I was thrown as far into the deep end as you could ever be thrown.”
Two years and 12 deals later, he sold the last chunk. As a reward, Sir Roland offered him an open credit line at a rate of 10 per cent.
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