J.M. Huber, one of the largest and oldest family-held companies in the US, had strategically repositioned itself several times since it was founded in 1883 as a dry-color business. Visionary family leaders and a committed senior management team had transformed the group into an international player with operations in more than 20 countries and about half of its 4,000 employees based outside North America. A portfolio management company (PMC), J.M. Huber became one of the key players in hydrocolloids, specialty chemicals and minerals, and engineered woods, and in 2017 it booked sales of US$2.3 billion. In 1993, Peter T. Francis, a fourth-generation family member, became chairman and CEO. For the fifth time in J.M. Huber's history, the family took complete leadership of the company. The years ahead were not always kind. In 2004 the firm had levered up its balance sheet to complete the largest acquisition in its history. Then, 2006 brought the collapse of the US housing market, and the economic crisis of 2007 hit many of J.M. Huber's key markets hard, putting the group under pressure. In the midst of the crisis, the company faced another significant milestone in its long history: Peter T. Francis had already announced in 2004 that he planned to retire in 2009. He was well aware that leadership succession was one of the most delicate moments for a family business, even in the best of times. How did the family and the board of directors support Peter T. Francis's decision to step down from his dual leadership function in the middle of the global recession? How was the succession engineered? What came first: CEO succession or chairman succession? Who was chosen for the CEO and the chairman positions: internal or external candidates, family or non-family members?

As circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to shift and evolve, J.M. Huber Corporation (Huber) remained focused on protecting its employees, maintaining business continuity, and on advancing its multi-year sustainability strategy. The efforts of Mike Marberry, the President & CEO, the Huber Management Council (HMC), the family shareholders, as well as company diversification, helped the company to remain stable. What is more, 2020 brought the strongest financial results in Huber's 138-year history! But new challenges were on the horizon... One of the largest and oldest family-held companies headquartered in the US, Huber had strategically repositioned itself several times since its founding in 1883 as a dry-colors business. Visionary family leaders and a committed senior management transformed the company from a single plant in Brooklyn, New York, into an international player operating in more than 20 countries, with about half of its 4,100 employees based outside North America. Structured as a portfolio managed company (PMC), Huber has become one of the key global players in hydrocolloids, specialty chemicals, minerals, agriculture solutions and engineered wood products, with a turnover of nearly US$3.5 billion in 2021. The succession of Peter Francis, the last family President & CEO and Board Chair had come at the worst possible time − during the Great Recession. Now Huber's first non-family CEO & President, Mike Marberry, is planning his own succession for 2022, unaware of the impending COVID-19 crisis. Would the resilience and experience gained from the last transition provide an effective template to help the company face the next crisis and leadership change more than a decade later? Would the family rally behind Marberry and the company to once again turn this difficult moment into an opportunity to show its resilience? What role would Huber's governance model and sustainability strategy play?