????道格?湯普金斯與蘇西?湯普金斯?布埃爾

????1968年,，蘇西?湯普金斯?布埃爾與她的一個(gè)朋友在舊金山創(chuàng)立了Esprit公司的前身，當(dāng)時(shí)這家公司還不叫這個(gè)名字,。不久后,，隨著蘇西的丈夫道格賣掉了自己的服裝公司North Face，他也加入了Esprit的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層,。從80年代中期開(kāi)始,，他們的婚姻以及這家一度非常紅火的公司都陷入了嚴(yán)重的麻煩。二人于1989年離婚后,，公司的“宮斗”戲還上演了好幾年,。前一分鐘是道格領(lǐng)導(dǎo)公司，下一分鐘就換成了蘇西,。

????當(dāng)事人說(shuō)：一名曾在該公司工作過(guò)的員工對(duì)《舊金山周刊》表示：“道格和蘇西都有很強(qiáng)的愿景,，但他們之間的協(xié)同效應(yīng)消失了，所以使公司變得更加困難,，因?yàn)槿藗兌贾拦居袃?nèi)部沖突,。”

????結(jié)局：官司和收購(gòu)來(lái)得比產(chǎn)品還快,。如今,，已經(jīng)公開(kāi)上市的Esprit控股公司將總部設(shè)在香港和德國(guó),。2011年，該公司在一份文件中稱：“過(guò)去幾年,，這個(gè)品牌已經(jīng)逐漸失去了靈魂,。”

????Doug Tompkins and Susie Tompkins Buell

????Though founded by Susie Tompkins Buell and a friend in San Francisco in 1968 under a different name, Esprit 330 was soon also led by her husband Doug, after he sold his own clothing company, North Face. The once-successful line and the marriage both began having serious troubles in the mid-1980s, chronicled by SF Weekly. While the couple divorced in 1989, the business’ drama took years to unfold. One minute Doug was leading the company, the next Susie.

????Telling quote:"Both Doug and Susie had very strong visions, but some of the synergy had fallen away, so it did make it more difficult," a former employee told SF Weekly. "It was more difficult because people knew there was internal conflict."

????The upshot:Lawsuits and takeovers moved faster than the products. These days, the publicly traded Esprit Holdings is based in Hong Kong and Germany, and in 2011, the company said in a filing, "The brand has gradually lost its soul over the past few years."