My father died, the board installed my husband as interim CEO of our $1.9B company — and five days later he fired me from the company I helped build, before we even held the funeral. A marriage fractured. A succession war opened. His speed triggered something he never anticipated. The dead founder may still be controlling the room.

Should a company go to blood or competence after the founder dies — and would you have pulled the same document?

Follow American Billionaire Tales — where fortune meets fate.