The legal squabble embroiling the Rollins family, including one son being groomed as the third generation to lead the family-run Rollins Inc., now calls that succession plan into question.
Glen W. Rollins, grandson of company founder O. Wayne Rollins, was fired last month, after he, his two sisters and brother sued their father, Gary W. Rollins and uncle, R. Randall Rollins, over two trusts established in the children's names.
The company has not explicitly said Glen, 44, was the heir apparent. But Glen, who remains on the company's nine-man board with his uncle and father, was the only one of his father's four children and his uncle's five children, to have a leading executive role in the Atlanta-based pest control conglomerate.
R. Randall is chairman, while Gary, his younger brother, serves as president and chief executive of the company, whose units include HomeTeam Pest Defense, Western Pest Services and Orkin. Collectively the Rollins family still maintain majority control of the company. And it's not yet clear what impact, if any, the ongoing rift will have on that control.
For now, it doesn't appear to be affecting the company, which is publicly traded and isn't a party in the lawsuit. Analysts don't see the lawsuit having any impact on its shares, which rose to a 52-week high of $23.13 on Monday.
A spokesman for the two brothers said the company is not suffering from a leadership vacuum.
"Rollins has a very deep pool of talented executives among its 10,000 employees," spokesman Tony Wilbert said. "Every company has a Plan B and we have one to ensure we remain the leading pest control company."
The company's subsidiaries are run autonomously and their leadership teams have key decision-making authority, he said.
One person who could be a key component of that Plan B, he said, is John Wilson, who came up through the ranks of the Rollins Inc.'s largest and most recognized brand: Orkin.
Wilson was promoted last year to be president of Orkin USA, then a newly created post. The promotion, which has him overseeing Orkin’s five division presidents and the vice president of sales operations, is significant for Wilson's profile at Rollins because Orkin accounts for about 70 percent of the parent company's approximately $1.1 billion in annual revenue.
Ironically, Glen Rollins, who was Orkin president, CEO and chief operating officer at the time, described Wilson as a "quality leader with a wealth of business knowledge."
Glen Rollins' tenure at the company goes back 30 years when, at 14, he worked as an assistant to a termite technician on summer breaks from school.
A Princeton graduate, Rollins joined the family company full time, starting off as a salesman, getting a series of promotions since then that included branch manager, vice president of corporate development and most recently, president of all its subsidiary companies.
In the end, the current family row doesn't necessarily knock him out of leading the company if the family members resolve it, said Joseph Astrachan, executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at the Kennesaw State University's Coles College of Business.
The company and family have been leading contributors to metro Atlanta civic activities, which suggests they can work it out, said Astrachan, who has counseled other companies that have been family-run for multiple generations.
"It's still a risky situation but their prognosis is still good if the family agrees to work it out," he said. "It would be a shame to let ego get in the way of a multi-generational and important business not just for Atlanta, but for the country."
Some ultimate consensus on leadership is critical since the company is heading into the third generation of family control, he said.
"The generation that has to live with the succession should be the one selecting the leader. If you choose a leader the next generation won't accept, it won't work," Astrachan said.
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