Coming Out of the Shadows

Despite his powerful family, Nelson’s life wasn’t easy. Ongoing health issues stemming from hepatitis necessitated an emergency liver transplant in 2000. He developed an addiction to his prescription pain medication after the surgery, a problem he says was brief, ending after he sought treatment.

Despite those challenges, he worked and rose within the family business. He had moved into a house in the shadows of the Carlson Companies towers along Interstate 494 to be close to the office. By March 2003, he was president and COO of the entire corporation.

It was widely expected that he would succeed his mother as CEO. What happened instead was that Nelson left the company abruptly in 2006.

He says now that he resigned to pursue his own independent ventures. But in 2007, Nelson sued Carlson Companies and his mother, in part because the company’s board had removed him from his post as president and COO. Language in his suit indicates that Nelson believed he had been wrongfully denied the CEO spot; he demanded a share of the then nearly $5-billion company.

I never intended to go to work for Carlson Companies. But my grandfather and I were very close . . .

Documents issued in response from the company and its board—which filed a countersuit against Nelson—describe him as unqualified for the CEO job because of his business judgement, and say that as late as 2006, he had ordered large quantities of controlled substances from online pharmacies using his computer at work, and that he also had ordered a product called Quick Detox, which was advertised as helping users to pass drug tests.

Nelson’s public relations spokesperson says his suit has not been fully settled yet in late January. Asked about the conflict, Nelson answers carefully:

“The truth of the matter is that disagreements in business are always difficult. Disagreements in families are even more difficult. You marry the two, and it was an extremely difficult period. But when I walked away from Carlson, I had the kind of education you could not pay for. And at the end of the day, I’m pleased with who I am and what I’m doing—my ability to contribute.”