The First Conversation · Laddie Stern
The Stern Rules
Sixty-five years in the car business. An auction empire, more than twenty dealerships and a family enterprise built to survive the next storm.
“Cash flow is thicker than blood.”
A Note From the Founder
I met Laddie about three years ago. The first time we met, he handed me a business card and gave me the sentence printed on it: “Cash flow is thicker than blood.” It was not a slogan. It was the lesson he carried out of 2008—and the operating principle behind everything that came after.
He is nearly 88, owns more than twenty dealerships and still goes to his desk at Rockland Nissan every morning to sell his own cars. He built one of America’s largest privately held auction companies, sold it and is candid enough to call that sale the biggest mistake of his life. This is a conversation about scale, capital, succession and what money cannot buy back.
Matthew C. Haiken
Founder, The Car Business
At a Glance
How He Built It
From Jerome Avenue
to an auction empire.
Jerome Avenue
Learns the business as a used-car wholesaler, buying trades from new-car dealers.
The first dealership
Buys a failed Chevrolet store on Long Island and becomes a new-car dealer.
Skyline Auction
Buys the real estate, discovers the auction economics and builds from there.
An auction empire
Adds Hatfield and Killeen and becomes America’s largest privately held auction company.
ADT / Manheim
Sells the auction company, leases the real estate and later calls the sale his biggest business mistake.
Twenty-plus stores
Still looks for the next good dealership alongside his son, Jonathan.
The Auction Economics
“It’s better than owning a casino.”
The auction collects from the buyer and the seller. The titles control the timing. The cash moves before most people understand what happened.
Laddie bought Skyline as a real-estate investment. Once inside, he realized he had acquired what he called a “cash cow.”
Eight Lessons
The Stern Rules
Love the Deal
“I’m a junkie deal guy. I would do it almost for free just to do the deal.”
Cash Flow Is Thicker Than Blood
“More car dealers have gone broke because they went into business under-capitalized and they hit a blip and they were out of business.”
Own the Real Estate
“We don’t do anything without the real estate.”
Don’t Cut the Bridge
“Be nice to ’em and you’ll get ’em at the end. Don’t ever cut a bridge that you can’t replace.”
Stay Close to the Leakage
“There’s two areas you can steal in the car business: the parts department and the used car department.”
Let the Next Generation Lead
“Without him, I could have never done it. He really was the power behind the throne.”
Sell Cars
“You don’t sell cars, you go broke. You have the greatest ops—you gotta sell cars.”
Suit Up and Go
“I get up every day, I dress up, I suit up, I go to work, and I enjoy it.”
What the Money Couldn’t Buy Back
Two regrets. No rehearsed answer.
Business
The auctions
“Biggest mistake I ever made in my life was selling the auctions instead of the
Life
The time
“I should have not chased the buck as much and spent some more time. I would’ve at least had the memories.”
The Next Generation
He built the platform. His son took it further.
“When you’re young, you see things you don’t see at my age.”
Laddie put the deals together. Jonathan modernized the operating company, learned the statements and scaled the dealerships. The lesson is not to make the next generation imitate you. It is to let them supply what the business—and you—are missing.
Why He Still Goes In
"I think working keeps you alive. When you stop working, you wait to die.”
Nearly 88 years old. Still dressed. Still at the desk. Still looking for the next deal.