Steinway, Baby

Steinway & Sons has been sold and I am uncomfortable.

Steinway is a "musical instrument maker" world renowned for the magnificent pianos they create. They have been around for 160 years.

The company was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft. The guy was a cabinet maker who built his first piano in the kitchen of his home in Germany.

Over the next thirty years after the company was founded Steinway and his sons developed the modern piano. The company holds 127 patents, many of which were based on scientific research including the acoustical theories of Hermann Von Helmholtz, a renowned physicist.

How does a guy go from being a cabinet maker to creating majestic pianos while incorporating the latest scientific research?

Its in the blood, baby.

By 1891 Steinway had moved to its current location in Queens and built what was known as Steinway Village, which included its own foundries, factory, post office, parks and housing for employees.

In 1880 Steinway opened a production facility in Hamburg, Germany. To this day these two manufacturing facilities are the only locations where Steinway pianos are created.

I first heard about the sale of the company on NPR and it just felt odd. This is a mystical, magical company that feels like it should be exempt from business dealings.

My initial fear was that the company would no longer be family controlled but it turns out it has been over 40 years since the company was family owned. Henry Z. Steinway, the founder's great grandson sold the company to CBS in 1972. In 1985 it was sold again to a group of Boston area investors.

I was saddened to learn this.

Employees were interviewed for the NPR piece, and none seemed worried. Their lives are intimately wrapped up in the history of the company and many are long term employees. They all described the work environment as enjoyable and peaceful.

The company was purchased by John Paulson who is a hedge fund manager. A hedge fund manager. That little bit of info twisted my gut.

I looked up hedge fund manager in the World Dictionary of Financial Terminology and the definition consisted of one word - rat.

He said: "The companies' proven business model and highly skilled employees provide a strong foundation on which to expand. We fully intend to maintain the superb quality of Steinway's musical instruments, which are the finest in the world."

Bernie Madoff talked like that. So did Michael Milken.

The more I looked into this, the more uncomfortable I became. I came across the fact that "private equity groups have their eyes squarely on the luxury goods market right now as they seek to profit from the recovering finances of the wealthy." Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus have recently been the target of private equity suitors.

In two different articles that I read it was pointed out that the Queens locations sits on highly valuable waterfront property that constitutes a large proportion of the companies' value.

I came across discussions of whether or not Steinway would be gutted and debating the job security of employees.

Steinway devotees include Billy Joel, Diana Krall, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Vladimir Horowitz, Franz Liszt, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini.

When you troll the web for Steinway info you come across pictures of Fats Domino, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and many, many more seated at a Steinway.

The piano itself is a thing of beauty. When I get rich and famous and buy my mansion in Arizona I will plunk a Steinway in my great room even though I cannot play.

Steinway & Sons creates beauty. That beauty in turn is caressed gently by enormously talented people to give our lives a touch of exquisite.

A company like that should not be tainted by hedge fund managers and property value considerations. The employees themselves should be treated as celebrities.

There is very little magic left in this world.

I fervently hope that the magic in Queens, NY and Hamburg, Germany will not be poisoned or snuffed out.

The world cannot afford it.