Lessons Learned from My Dad: The Original ‘King of Christmas’

My dad was a true entrepreneur … the OG entrepreneur in our family. ?He was also the first person in our family to go to college, attending the University of Maryland. ?His father had only been educated through the 8th grade. However, he learned to play the violin and built a career playing at weddings and special events with an orchestra. He also wrote the nightlife column in the Baltimore Sun newspaper.

Getting back to my dad, he needed money for college, so he hired his fraternity brothers to dress up like Santa Claus and rented them out to department stores, like a temporary services agency. ?This became so successful that dad opened a school for Santas, teaching people who wanted seasonal work about how to be a great Santa. ?As only could happen in America, department stores led to strip shopping centers, which led to major regional malls. Eventually, my dad became the “king of Christmas.”

At the peak of his business, malls had become the main street for America and there were about 400 malls with a Becker Christmas. Dad innovated and licensed Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Snoopy, and the Muppets to create even more exciting Christmas displays. Millions of children loved it and came to have their photo taken in these displays.

Dad loved to actually be Santa and dressed up at least once a year, such as for a local school for developmentally disabled children. When I was a little boy, I went to a shopping center with Dad and there was a small booth with a phone and a sign that read, “Speak to Santa at the north pole”.?I picked up the phone and it was my father’s voice! I left thinking my dad was Santa Claus. It was a pretty cool series of months thinking Dad was Santa and it was a family secret.

What started as a fun gig to pay for college became?the largest Christmas display company in America. For 53 years, if you brought a child to have their photo taken with Santa at a mall in America, it was likely a Becker display. Dad loved being Santa. It was very much his way of being. He led his company with positivity, his employees and customers loved him, and, yes, he had a twinkle in his eye. Dad even created an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and his company became employee owned. Eventually, the ESOP sold the business to a large national display company. But, sadly for my father, the magic would not last.

Dad never had access to a great financial advisor and planner. He knew everything about Christmas, but very little about how to plan for retirement. He would tell my brother and me, “Many years from now, when I go to the ‘north pole,’ I want you to take care of each other and the business.” However, Dad didn’t have a succession plan, a financial plan, or an optimal estate tax plan. ?

Dad’s obsession with being Santa and his close connection to his business left him without a “compass.” His later years proved very challenging, as he tried to find another passion. He still dressed up as Santa once a year for the local school, and he volunteered and was active in community service. But the twinkle in his eye faded over time, and his retirement fund started to decline. Dad outlived his retirement savings, which resulted in my brother and I having to provide financial support. We were of course more than happy to help our dad, but he struggled to accept that help.?It was sad to see “Santa” in this challenging situation. ?

In my own retirement, when my Cresset Co-founder and friend Avy Stein and I decided to launch Cresset, we had our own fathers in mind as our inspiration. What if “Santa” had access to a talented financial advisor and planner? I know he could have had a comfortable retirement without financial worries. With proper planning, he could have had peace of mind and a sense of purpose in his later years.

When Dad passed away, my brother found an envelope addressed to us. It said, “To my boys, for when I go to the north pole.” It had been written many years before Dad retired and contained beautiful sentiments, as well as the wonderful positivity I had heard in that voice on the phone at the Santa booth so many years ago. You could imagine Dad with that twinkle in his eye … at the top of his game. ?

My dad’s story is one that, sadly, many first time CEO founders experience. If you haven’t sought out the expertise of a great advisor, financial planner and estate tax attorney, don’t wait any longer. Make the investment of time and resources to provide the gift of peace of mind and a better future for you and your family.