Accounting Principles, 11th Edition

Feature Story

She Succeeds Where Others Have Failed

The financial press is fond of highlighting the fact that, sporting stilettos and leather skirts, Lynn Tilton does not dress like your typical manufacturing executive. Much more important, however, is the fact that her business success is also far from typical. In fact, as the full or partial owner of 74 companies with revenues of more than $8 billion, Tilton is one of the wealthiest female entrepreneurs in the United States. Her company, Patriarch Partners, is sometimes referred to as the largest woman-owned business in America.

Her path to success is an inspiring tale of determination. Tilton started on Wall Street as a single mother, working 15-hour days as she put herself through business school. During years of employment at numerous financial institutions, she developed a knack for analyzing balance sheets and interpreting complex financial information. Eventually, Tilton started her own company, Patriarch Partners, and invested in the debt of a number of distressed companies. She quickly figured out that the only way she was going to make money on those investments was to take control of the companies and try to make them profitable. Thus, seemingly almost by accident, she became the CEO of dozens of failing manufacturing ...