Rivals Lose Senior Posts at L.A. Jeans Maker : Marcianos Oust Nakash Brothers at Guess
In a dramatic development in the years-long battle for control of Guess, a highly successful Los Angeles jeans maker, the founding Marciano brothers voted Thursday to oust the rival Nakash brothers from their senior corporate posts.
Ousted as chairman, effective June 14, is Avi Nakash. He will be replaced by Maurice Marciano, who will also retain his title of executive vice president. Joe Nakash loses his post as secretary, which goes to Armand Marciano, who is also an executive vice president. Ralph Nakash, ousted as a vice president, will not be replaced.
The vote, which was accomplished with the backing of a court-appointed provisional director, removes the Nakashes from posts they have held since buying half of the company in 1983. The Nakash brothers, who founded and built Jordache Enterprises, a competing apparel company, will remain on the seven-member board.
Georges Marciano, the designer of Guess’ stone-washed blue jeans and other apparel, retains his titles as president and chief executive.
The ousting of the Nakashes from the posts is the latest in a series of offbeat developments at Guess, a 5-year-old company that anticipates 1987 sales of between $360 million and $400 million.
Not long after the Nakashes bought into Guess, relationships between the two sets of brothers deteriorated, and they soon found themselves embroiled in a series of lawsuits involving a variety of issues, including alleged copyright infringements and breaches of fiduciary duties, as well as a dispute over the ownership of Guess. The suits have kept a bevy of lawyers buzzing between courts and factories in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Washington.
Marshall Grossman, an attorney for the Marcianos who attended the two-day board meeting, acknowledged that the vote is not likely to have much effect on the legal proceedings but said: “From the Marcianos’ standpoint, it removes a significant irritant from the corporation because the Nakashes are stripped of their authority to execute any documents on behalf of Guess or to hold themselves out as officer representatives of Guess.”
The meeting was held in the offices of the provisional director, retired Judge Richard Schauer, who was appointed by Superior Court Judge Norman L. Epstein nearly two years ago to referee the escalating battle of the brothers.
According to Grossman, who attended the meeting along with a number of other attorneys, the Nakashes “essentially pleaded to be permitted to retain their positions, and their pleas were rejected by Judge Schauer.”
Grossman added with a chuckle that “the meeting was conducted with the usual degree of civility . . . attendant to all Guess board meetings, which means that order was continuously being restored under the firm hand of Judge Schauer.”
Schauer declined to comment. Allyn O. Kreps, attorney for the Nakashes, could not be reached.
