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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Recovers: Back to Business

Aired October 05, 2001 - 08:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The September 11th attacks hobbled nearly all of the businesses near the doomed Twin Towers. Most of the companies have since relocated, and are back in business.

CNN's Willow Bay examines one corporate comeback.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED ALGER, ALGER FUNDS: I'm sure you have questions about how the events of September 11th have impacted our firm.

WILLOW BAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This isn't what Fred Alger thought he would be doing at the age of 66. The conference calls with clients, training analysts, television appearances; he'd left all of that to his younger brother David when he retired in 1995.

But in an instant on September 11th, everything changed.

David Alger, the firm's chief executive, and 34 staff members were in their offices on the 93rd floor of One World Trade Center when the first plane struck.

Fred immediately got on the phone with David's wife, Josephine.

ALGER: I said I felt certain that David would, you know -- at this moment, while I talked to her -- was gathering the troops together in the dust and what not, and not having any transportation, that he would probably be walking uptown and arriving on her doorstep, not knowing where else to put them. And go out and buy some bread and make sandwiches, because they are all going to have 40 or so hungry people on their doorstep in a matter of an hour.

BAY: But after days of searching it became clear: Not one of them survived.

ALGER: It was violence of the act which is so, so horrible. To have lost a brother and 34 other employees, many of whom were close.

BAY: It was a crushing blow to the company, two thirds of the core team gone. With $15 billion of assets to protect, and clients who needed them, Fred took back control of the firm.

ALGER: I didn't have to think twice about it. It was a decision I made without a second thought. BAY: A decision to rebuild, to preserve a family fortune, and a family legacy.

Fred and his brother had planned for emergencies, even for a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. That proved to be a critical first step.

(on camera): Fred Alger Management had a very thorough and detailed disaster recovery plan. All employees were briefed on what do in case of an emergency, and all had these packets of directions to this backup facility, 35 miles away from the World Trade Center in Morristown, New Jersey.

ALGER: Absolutely everything can be done here. Certainly all of the trading, all the administrative work. All of that could be done here, and research.

BAY (voice-over): Within two days, they were back in business, and Fred was on the phone with clients.

ALGER: In my words I have been saying that, you know, I founded the firm in 1964, I have always been a very strong leader with very strong ideas about the market; and I'm back.

BAY: Fred says no major clients have taken money out. But they are waiting to see how well the fund performs. Several former employees have returned to help, and like so many other firms devastated by the attack, this one is united by a common goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a way it is sort of -- I have a new mission in life, and a way to honor all of the people that I knew. To make sure this firm continues to be the success that it's always been.

BAY: Willow Bay, CNN financial news, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: A memorial service for David Alger will be held today.

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