The Haas family took Levi's private in 1985 and saved the jeans maker

Levi Strauss boomed in the 1960s and 1970s jeans craze, then the denim market collapsed in the early 1980s. In mid-1985 the Haas family, led by Robert Haas — the fifth generation of his family to run the company — took the firm private in a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout, in part to remove any threat of a hostile takeover and to escape Wall Street criticism.

The buyout changed how the company worked. Employees said it was overhauled by the pressures of the debt and became leaner and faster: the Dockers casual-pants line, launched in 1986, grew from $1 million in sales that year to $40 million in 1987 and toward $120 million in 1988.

By 1996 the family offered to buy out other shareholders at a price that valued Levi Strauss at $14 billion — almost ten times the $1.6 billion paid in 1985 — and ensured the company would remain in family hands.

The family's $1.6 billion leveraged buyout removed Wall Street pressure; a 1996 buyback valued Levi's at $14 billion — almost ten times the 1985 price.

Wall Street was impatient with Levi's efforts to move beyond jeans, so going private removed that pressure.

The leveraged structure forced the company to run leaner and faster.

Dockers gave the family firm a second product engine after denim faded.

Taking a family firm private can buy the time to fix the product; Levi's used that freedom to launch Dockers and rebuild after the denim bust.

Levi Strauss stayed private for 34 years. In March 2019 it returned to the stock market with a market value above $8.7 billion; the Haas family retained about 80% voting control, and 2018 revenue was $5.6 billion.