Karcher Stays Unruffled by Insider Charges

Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain founder Carl N. Karcher declared Monday that neither his buoyant outlook on life nor his daily schedule has been affected by the legal troubles that hit him last week.

“That hasn’t changed at all my personal philosophy,” he said, later adding, “I haven’t changed my plans. Why do you change your plans when you have no feeling of guilt?”

Karcher has vehemently denied accusations made last week in an insider trading lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC contended that in 1984 Karcher illegally tipped off some of his relatives about coming bad news at his company and that they sold some stock before the news was made public.

He seemed determined on Monday to appear unruffled by events. Karcher, who is chairman and chief executive of Carl Karcher Enterprises, attended a press conference held to publicize his first day as executive-in-residence at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, a part-time lecturer position at the college of business administration. Questions were ruled out on the SEC charges, but Karcher spoke to reporters for nearly half an hour.

Wearing a red tie, white shirt and blue suit, the outspokenly patriotic Karcher spoke warmly of the business techniques and home-spun philosophies he said had helped him turn a Los Angeles hot dog cart bought for $26 in 1941 into a 449-restaurant chain today.

Promoting positive attitudes, good communication, teamwork and follow-through, he said, is essential to successful management.

So is “positive thinking,” he said, along with truth and persistence. “You never give up. Too many people have a tendency to give up and throw in the towel.”

Mentioning his 12 children, 42 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, Karcher portrayed himself as a family man and the embodiment of the old-fashioned American values he has espoused in television commercials for his chain. “There’s no substitute for the truth. I was taught as a boy growing up in rural Iowa, there’s no substitute.”

Karcher seemed serious and reserved throughout, but smiled gently and often. “Another of my philosophies,” he said, “is that a smile is still free.”