Malden Mills

malden-mills-logo2.png

When the Malden Mills factory burnt down on December 11, 1995, owner Aaron Feuerstein used his insurance money to rebuild it, and to pay the salaries of all the now-unemployed workers while it was being rebuilt. Feuerstein spent millions keeping all 3,000 employees on the payroll with full benefits for 6 months. By going against common CEO business practices, especially at a time when most companies were downsizing and moving overseas, he achieved global fame.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malden_Mills]

Feuerstein said that he could not have taken another course of action due to his study of the Talmud and the lessons he learned there:

I have a responsibility to the worker, both blue-collar and white-collar. I have an equal responsibility to the community. It would have been unconscionable to put 3,000 people on the streets and deliver a deathblow to the cities of Lawrence and Methuen. Maybe on paper our company is worthless to Wall Street, but I can tell you it's worth more.

Parade Magazine, 1996