Aaron Feuerstein was the third generation chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Malden Mills, a privately held company started in Massachusetts that produced fabric and evolved to manufacture Polartec, an advanced fleece fabric that became a favorite of outdoor clothiers. Located in Methuen, Massachusetts, its success from Polartec came not only from the fabric's functionality but also that it is a fabric made from recycled plastic that stays dry and provides warmth. Polartec was used in everything from ski parkas to blankets by companies such as L.L. Bean, Patagonia, Lands' End, and Eddie Bauer. Malden employed 2,400 locals, and Mr. Feuerstein and his family steadfastly refused to move production overseas as other fabric producers were making that transition. Malden's labor costs were the highest in the industry-an average of \(\$ 12.50\) per hour. Malden Mills was also the largest employer in what was, and remains, one of Massachusetts' poorest towns.

On December 11, 1995, a boiler explosion at Malden Mills resulted in a fire that injured 27 people and destroyed three of the buildings at Malden Mills' factory site. With only one building left in functioning order, many employees assumed they would be laid off temporarily. Other employees worried that Mr. Feuerstein, then 70 years old, would simply take the insurance money and retire. Mr. Feuerstein could have retired with about \(\$ 300\) million in insurance proceeds from the fire.

Instead, Mr. Feuerstein announced on December 14, 1995, that he would pay the employees their salaries for at least 30 days. He continued that promise for six months, when \(90 \%\) of the employees were back to work. The cost to the company of covering the wages was approximately \(\$ 25\) million. During that time, Malden ran its Polartec through its one working facility as it began and completed the reconstruction of the plant, at a cost of \(\$ 430\) million. Only \(\$ 300\) million of that amount was covered by the insurance on the plant; the remainder was borrowed so that Malden Mills would be a state-of-theart, environmentally friendly plant. Interestingly, production output during this time was nine times what it had been before the fire. One worker noted, "I owe him everything. I'm paying him back."' After the fire and Feuerstein's announcement, customers pledged their support, with one customer, Dakotah, sending in \(\$ 30,000\) to help. Within the first month following the fire, \(\$ 1\) million in donations was received. \({ }^{8}\).....................

 Discussion Questions
1. Mr. Feuerstein once stated, "I don't deserve credit. Corporate America has made it so that when you behave the way I did, it's abnormal." Given the final outcome, did Mr. Feuerstein end up in the same position as the CEOs of failed companies?
2. Mr. Feuerstein is a Talmudic scholar who often quotes the following proverbs:
"In a situation where there is no righteous person, try to be a righteous person."
"Not all who increase their wealth are wise."12 Did he live by the proverbs? What wisdom for your credo comes from these two insights?
3. Did the fact that Malden Mills is privately held make a difference in Mr. Feuerstein's flexibility?
4. Did Mr. Feuerstein focus too much on benevolence and not enough on business? Did he rely only on goodwill to survive, and did he neglect the basics of strategy, marketing, and addressing the competition? At the time of his 90th birthday in 2015 he said, "... in our business schools we're taught the object of business is 100 percent profitability to the shareholder. The people who own the place are the ones who have to get 100 percent profitability, not 99 percent, not 98 percent. They have to have it all. That is most unfortunate." Is he correct or is a balance necessary?