While he could hardly have foreseen his own sudden demise, Shoul Eisenberg, as his 70th birthday approached, took precautions to ensure the future of his business and his family. When the time came, there must be no disputes or uncertainty. Some years ago, he accordingly started grooming his son Erwin to step into his shoes. Apart from Erwin, Eisenberg had four married daughters. A few years ago, his daughter Alfreda died, survived by her husband Yigal Dimant.
To forestall any misunderstanding, Eisenberg clearly named Erwin as his successor, giving him years of special schooling for the job. Erwin was not always happy with this training, and there were reports of friction between father and son which, however, was amicably resolved.
47-year-old Erwin Eisenberg was born in Japan where he got his primary schooling. He was later educated in Switzerland and England. After matriculation, he came to Israel and served in the IDF, following which he went to university in England. Upon graduation, he entered into his father’s international business. For eight years, he served as senior vice president of the Eisenberg group’s international operations. He honed his skills in dealings on a global scale, learning the tricks of the trade. He started to imprint his personal stamp on the company.
Only then, in 1992, was he moved to the Israel Corporation. Erwin Eisenberg took up residence in Israel, recently telling friends this was the happiest time of his life. The young Eisenberg settled in Israel with his family, achieving a smooth social absorption. He was recently quoted as saying that he felt himself to have a permanent home for the first time in years.
When he arrived in Israel, his father initially chose to appoint him vice-president of the Israel Corporation, giving him a few years in which to study the Israeli business scene before taking the reins. When Shani refused to be appointed manager, Eisenberg realised it would be hard to find a good general manager who would agree to accept his son both as deputy and as director.
This being so, he resolved not to make Erwin a manager before having Moshe Arens installed as Deputy Chairman. But not even Arens found this state affairs tenable. Everyone quickly grasped the fact that Shoul Eisenberg was still in charge and that, in his absence, he son Erwin had the last word. Dead Sea Works general manager Uri Ben-Noon, hitherto Eisenberg’s close confidante, burned his fingers before he understood.
Under his father’s immediate tutelage, Erwin Eisenberg has in the past five years displayed managerial talent thanks to which the activity of the Israel Corporation has expanded and been upgraded. Thanks to his carefully chosen investments and his restructuring of the company, the Israel Corporation advanced to a higher league. Erwin Eisenberg’s genius, people say, lies in his ability to choose good advisers, and his being modest enough not to mind doing his homework thoroughly and resorting to outside advice.
The management structure that has emerged in the Israel Corporation, with Erwin at the head, flanked by Dimant as general manager of Israel Chemicals and with Amos Mar Chaim hovering in the background as deputy chairman, has proved itself efficacious in recent years. Sources close to the family say the late Eisenberg was at ease and satisfied with his decision. The good relations between the three men allayed any misgivings as to future confrontations, although such things can happen unpredictably.
The Eisenberg sisters have in recent years shown no interest in being actively involved in the group’s business. Liz Harari tried it in the past, but "her adventures cost not a little money, and an understanding was quickly reached with her whereby she would "develop her business ambitions independently".
Esther’s husband Jonathan Zochovitzky used to be a senior member of the group; but he quarrelled with Eisenberg and has since lived in New York. Relations with him and Esther were severed. Esther was recently reconciled with her father, but is not expected to demand involvement in business affairs. Another sister, Emily, lives in London where she owns an investment firm. Edith, also a non-Israeli resident, is uninvolved in business activity.
Erwin Eisenberg’s detractors say he is unready to assume his father’s mantle and manage his entire empire. Similar scepticism, however, greeted his appointment as the Israel Corporation’s general manager, only to be silenced by Erwin’s prowess. With his forthcoming appointment to the position of Chairman of the Israel Corporation and President of the international group, it is expected that an executive manager will be appointed for the Israel Corporation. Erwin Eisenberg, like his father before him, will presumably thereupon cruise around between the company’s businesses in various parts of the world, mainly between the Far East and Israel.