Milwaukee’s public family businesses

Southeastern Wisconsin is full of family businesses with long legacies, and each navigates the transition from one generation to the next with its own twist. There are also a handful of area companies that are now public, but the families behind them continue to control many, if not a majority, of shares. In some cases, family members hold shares that give them control over naming directors or increased voting power. Here’s the percentage of shares family members or trusts hold in area companies, based on each company’s most recent proxy filing with
the SEC:

Twin Disc

• John H. Batten: 23.6%

Johnson Outdoors Inc. (Class B shareholders select seven board members and receive 10 votes per share when both classes vote on proposals.)

• Johnson Bank: 33.1% Class A, 3.5% Class B
• Helen Johnson-Leipold: 17% Class A, 96.4% Class B
• H. Fisk Johnson: 9.5% Class A

Koss Corp.

• John C. Koss: 26.99%
• Michael J. Koss: 34.19%
• John C. Koss, Jr.: 21.53%
• Michael J. Koss, Jr.: <1%
• Koss Family Trust: 26.88%

A.O. Smith Corp. (Common stock shareholders select four board members, while Class A shareholders select six. Shareholders of common stock receive one-tenth of a vote per share on items considered by both classes.)

• Smith Family Voting Trust: 95.91% Class A, 1.4% common
• Bruce Smith: 1.73% Class A, < 1% common
• Mark Smith : < 1% Class A, < 1% common

Weyco Group Inc.

• Thomas W. Florsheim: 1.91%
• Thomas W. Florsheim Jr.: 26.07%
• John W. Florsheim:  8.55%

Marcus Corp. (Class B shareholders receive 10 votes per share, while holders of common shares receive one per share.)

• Stephen H. Marcus: < 1% common, 55% Class B
• Diane Marcus Gershowitz: < 1% common, 35.9% Class B
• Gregory S. Marcus: 2.4% common, 2.6% Class B

Quad/Graphics (Class A shareholders receive one vote per share, while class B shareholders receive 10 votes per share.)

• Joel Quadracci: 3.92% Class A, 3.41% Class B
• Kathryn Quadracci Flores: <1% Class A, 1.85% Class B
• Christopher Harned (husband of Elizabeth Quadracci Harned): <1% Class A, 1.71% Class B
• Quad/Graphics Voting Trust: <1% Class A, 90.53% Class B