Page 46 - Forbes - USA (February 2018)

Entrepreneurs UNDER 30

20 ft.
Moving Target $5,100 18

Total years
The wholesale price of one from seed:
of TreeTown’s bestselling 9.5 16
Empire Live Oaks $295 $1,580
constantly changes. Total years Total years 14
from seed: $630 from seed:
4.5 7.5
Total years 12
from seed:
$80 6
Total years 10
from seed:
$21 3
Total years 8
from seed:
2
6
PETER AND MARIA HOEY FOR FORBES; SOURCE: TREETOWN USA
4

2

0
5 15
Gallon Gallon 45
Gallon 95 200
Gallon Gallon 670
Gallon

his sisters, Stefanie and Alexis, filed papers to include landscapers and big retailers like Home
force the company into involuntary bankrupt- Depot. Revenue is expected to surpass $120 mil-
cy. They could do that because TreeTown’s par- lion in 2018, with operating profits around 15%,
ent company, Seven S Capital, controlled by their above those of most competitors. While a few
father, owed $21 million to three trusts in their private-equity-financed startups have tried with-
names. David never saw it coming. The evening out much success to shake up the nursery busi-
of the day the papers were filed, he called Jona- ness, the roughly $18 billion industry remains
than and started discussing the terms of his sur- populated largely by underfunded mom-and-
render. They quickly reached an agreement. Jon- pop nurseries. Saperstein is trying to break that
athan’s holding company acquired TreeTown’s mold and build a national giant. He and his sis-
assets, and he and his sisters sold their stakes in ters, who have no operating role in the business,
Seven S to their father. The purchase price, in- own equal stakes with no outside investors. Jon-
cluding assumption of debts, was around $50 athan says that while his relationship with his fa-
million. At a companywide meeting called to an- ther survived the takeover, they don’t talk about
nounce the new ownership, a TreeTown execu- the business.
tive brought Kool-Aid and cups and declared, When David founded TreeTown in 2000, Jon-
“We’re ready to drink the Kool-Aid!” Of his fa- athan, his son with his second wife, Suzanne,
ther’s tenure, Jonathan says only, “We underes- was growing up mostly in Los Angeles, where
timated the complexity, and when I say ‘we,’ I his parents were building an epic white ele-
mean we as a family.” David, now 76, declined to phant, a 12-bedroom château called Fleur de
be interviewed. Lys. (Suzanne and David divorced in 2007. The
Since then, with savvy acquisitions and tech- house sat on the market for years before selling
enabled operations, TreeTown has leapfrogged in 2014.) Jonathan, who wears farmer jeans and
past competitors to become the country’s largest carries his cellphone in a pouch on his belt, pre-
tree producer and one of its biggest nurseries. It ferred Texas, where he was born. During col-
employs almost 1,600 people and grows 4 million lege at the University of Texas, Austin, he spent
trees and 18 million shrubs and perennials on 16 summers and school breaks working at the com-
farms in Texas, Florida and California. Clients pany. After graduating in 2010, he joined Tree-

44 | FORBES FEBRUARY 28, 2018