Elan Cohen calls the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR) "very much an extension of our family,” hearkening back to his school days when he and older brother, Adam, worked summers for their father, Yoram.
Adam, 34, came to LISCR full-time about nine years ago after working in the financial sector, while Elan, 31, followed a few years later.
Their father founded LISCR in 1999 as it assumed management of the Liberian flag from International Registries, which now runs the rival Marshall Islands flag.
Handover explained
In their first press interview after years of low-key management of the business, the Cohen brothers explained the handover of control from their father.
“For about five years we worked hand in hand. People would look at us at that point as being equal partners in the business," Adam says.
"My brother joined a couple of years later. And for several years we worked side by side with our father.
“I brought my background in finance and got to absorb a lot of my father’s entrepreneurial skills, as well as his high-level relationships with governmental officials and senior shipowner contacts he'd developed over many years.”
However, things were changing by 2015, as Yoram was easing away from the company.
Our father doesn't have any official role or title with the registry anymore. We do lean on him for advice on long-term matters such as governmental relations.
Adam Cohen
"I wouldn’t say it was a decision to step away from the business, but more transitioning away over a period of time. But at that point Elan and I were, de facto, essentially the key people running the registry,” Adam says.
“Our father doesn't have any official role or title with the registry anymore. We do lean on him for advice on long-term matters such as governmental relations. But otherwise, day to day, he’s not closely connected to what happens.”
New headquarters
In perhaps a symbol of the new control, LISCR moved last year from its long-term home in Vienna, Virginia, to a new building owned by the registry in nearby Dulles.
Some might see more symbolism in the brothers’ separation from long-serving chief executive Scott Bergeron — hired by their father — and increasing bond with hand-picked chief operating officer Alfonso Castillero.
How do the brothers divide their responsibilities? It's complicated, they say.
"We always say we speak with one voice, as long as we're not speaking to one another," Adam quips.
Fluid relationship
“Elan travels extensively, not that I don’t, but I spend more time in headquarters. He's focused a lot on client relationships. I spend a lot of time on administration and finance. But it's hard for me to say that he handles this and I handle that," he adds.
Elan says: “We're brothers and we have a very fluid relationship. It's not as if one person is doing one thing exclusively.”
They have mainly acted out of the public eye, but concern over misunderstanding of Bergeron's departure spurred them to step into the spotlight.
"Part of the reason we haven’t historically been the face of the registry is that we like to keep a low profile in the areas where we can," Adam said.
"We don't focus on making ourselves the spotlight. other than with clients who know us.”
