Earn It Back: Life Lessons in Business That Jerry Levin Carries in Daily Life

Jerry Levin was about to get fired from his job in the treasury department of Texas Instruments. Still in his 20s, the young hotshot with an MBA was a shooting star in the global corporate powerhouse, having helped generate close to $15 million the year before, managing currency risks around the world.

Sitting at home one night with his young wife Carol, Levin saw that President Nixon had enacted a plan that ended dollar convertibility to gold and implemented wage and price controls, looking to stave off rising inflation.

The layman may have thought it smart policy, to look out for the little guy. Not Levin, who raced to his office at 9 p.m. and started doing some math. The golden boy who thought he was a star had just cost the company $25 million in revenue, on the eve of a board meeting where the company’s earnings report would be approved.

“There was no question that I would be out of a job,” says Levin.

His immediate boss, who was in Europe, was racing back to the States on the Concorde while Levin prepared a presentation to deliver to the board. “I had never even met the board, and now I had to go before them and tell them how I had just cost the company $25 million,” says Levin. “They were paralyzed by the news.”

He finished his presentation and began packing. When his boss returned, they met to discuss the issue.

“He put his head in his hands as we talked. When we finished, I said, ‘Hans, I have packed up my office, and I’m ready to leave,’” Levin recalls.

What happened next was one of the most impactful moments of his career, and life.

“He looked at me and told me I wasn’t fired,” says Levin. “Instead, he just said, ‘Mistakes happen. Now, go and make it back.’”

Levin has carried that event with him through his four-plus decades in the corporate world, holding top positions in some of the largest consumer-related companies in the world.

Levin is currently the CEO of JW Levin Management Partners LLC, a private management and investment firm headquartered in New York City. Throughout his time in business, he has served as CEO of Wilton Brands LLC, the CEO of the Coleman Company Inc., the CEO of Revlon Inc. and the CEO of American Household Inc. (formerly named Sunbeam Inc.).

Currently, he serves as executive chairman of Lasko Products and chairman of Spinrite LP and serves on the board of Waterloo Beverages. From 1974–1989, Levin worked for the Pillsbury Company.

He is known as a turnaround guy, and has completed hundreds of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Some of the transactions he led included Häagen-Dazs, Green Giant, Totino’s Pizza, Steak and Ale, Chart House, and American Beauty Macaroni. He served as CEO of Häagen-Dazs and the Pillsbury Restaurant Group (comprised of Burger King, Steak and Ale, Bennigans, Chart House and Godfather’s Pizza) and several other Pillsbury businesses. Levin has also served on the boards of US Bank, Eco-Labs, Lorillard, Apogee, Saks Fifth Avenue and Wendy’s. He was also CEO of Sharper Image.

Raised on the West Side of Chicago, Levin has lived in many different worlds. His experiences led him to be aware of prejudice and discrimination, especially in the corporate world.

“Early on, a company would only hire African Americans or Spanish-speaking applicants for warehouse jobs and never for an office job,” says Levin. With the trend of hiring women and minorities gaining momentum, he set to work to make changes. Consequently, Levin hired the first African American in his company to hold a corporate position.

Levin has backed up his words with personal action. When the board of his company decided to lower the mandatory retirement age, in short order he found that he would soon have to move on as well. The company balked, needing his leadership to remain.

“But I couldn’t do that,” says Levin. “Suddenly my age popped up, and I knew that if I had been the one to implement the new guidelines then I had to retire as well. I told the company that we cannot ignore the reality, that it would look bad, and that I would not exclude myself from the rule. We all learned a lesson about diversity.”

While he concedes, “We have come a long way in the area of diversity,” there is still much to be done.

Levin’s focus has always been consumer- and product-based companies, and he believes that no matter the era, the consumer is first, and listening to the consumer is paramount to any brand’s success. The recent controversy surrounding the Bud Light brand has provided a clear example of the importance of being in touch with a brand’s core supporters.

“You need to go out and talk to your people,” he says. “If they did, they may have seen that it may not have been the best promotion for their brand.”

Levin believes in the adage “you never want to be the smartest person in the room.”

“I have always encouraged my people to be blunt with me,” he says. “You have to be open and honest in business. It’s open warfare. Sometimes you can’t be nice.”

The changes in corporate structure and in how employees work have also affected the American workforce. “People doing business through only emails, calls and video meetings does not do it all,” says Levin. “Something is missing.”

One way he counters the digital workspace is by organizing a mandatory dinner the night before a board meeting of his company. “There is no substitute for being together,” he says.

Philanthropy is important in his family. His wife Carol is the president of Hampton Synagogue, and Levin is very active in supporting Jewish causes. Levin has served as the president of the UJA-Federation of New York.

The Levins split their time between Tucson, Arizona and Westhampton Beach, where they have been spending time for more than 30 years. After a couple of summers as renters, they bought a home that “burned to the ground,” he says. “We got the call from the fire department at 3 a.m. and raced to the house from New York City. Carol fainted when she saw the devastation.” (The cause of the fire and subsequent investigation is enough for another article and potentially a true-crime series.)

Levin loves the way his Hamptons community has changed and could not single out a favorite restaurant, although he did call out the Beach Bakery & Grand Café for their Kosher offerings. “We eat out almost every meal, so we know every place out there,” Levin says. “They are all excellent.”

Even after so many years in business, raising a family and putting his energy into supporting important causes, Levin does not want to slow down.

“I’m committed to the things I do. I am committed to my business, my family and very committed to Judaism,” he says. “Sometimes I might be too philanthropic. It’s just what I believe in. You have to make up your mind and push. It’s not always easy. You need to be tough in business and life.”

Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.