Peter Huntsman took over in 2000 and steered the firm through debt

Peter Huntsman took over as CEO of his father's chemical company in mid-2000, just as the industry turned down. The firm had doubled in size buying ICI businesses with high-yield debt, and by late 2001 it was skipping interest payments on combined debts of $2.2 billion and starting restructuring talks with bondholders.

Peter led the survival effort. In November 2001 Huntsman International's lenders waived various defaults and restored full access to its credit line; Peter called it 'a huge vote of confidence'. By 2002 the company was cash-flow positive again, and in 2005 it raised $1.3 billion in an IPO to cut debt that had reached $6.2 billion.

The second crisis came in 2008-09 when the Hexion/Apollo takeover collapsed. Huntsman sued Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank for fraud and tortious interference, won, and settled for $1.73 billion in cash and financing in June 2009 — bringing cumulative settlements above $2.7 billion and cutting net debt from $3.3 billion to $2.8 billion.

Huntsman survived $2.2 billion of debt and restructuring in 2001-02, then won a $1.73 billion bank settlement that cut net debt from $3.3 to $2.8 billion.

The father's leveraged acquisitions left the son a debt-heavy balance sheet in a downturn.

Peter restructured with lenders early rather than waiting for bankruptcy.

Litigation against the banks recovered $1.73 billion that kept the company independent.

An heir taking over a leveraged family firm inherits the balance sheet too; survival can come from restructuring, cutting costs and fighting for what is owed.

Huntsman remained a public, family-influenced chemical company. Peter Huntsman stayed CEO, and the company continued as one of the world's largest chemical makers, still carrying the family's name and chairman Jon M. Huntsman Sr. until his death in 2018.