"The Great thing about it is I don’t care if my children join the company," Hooker, 54, says. "I don’t want any of them to feel pressured."

PAUL HOOKER bought out his brother-in-law and partner in Sferra last year. Now his goal is to keep his children from having to liquidate the business to pay taxes.

Until last year, Hooker was hard at work and rarely thinking about the future of his business—until a confluence of buyout offers and worries about his partner’s health jolted both of them into a reality check. Last year, he put together a plan that will keep the doors of the executive suite open for his children, while providing a cash infusion so they won’t be forced to sell the company to pay off estate taxes.

He has talked with his son Andrew, 23, about the requirements for running the business. Andrew, who is an equity trader in New York, would need to spend several years learning the linen business, more or less as an apprentice, watching what goes on at the mills and factories in Italy—and he would have to become fluent in Italian. Hooker’s older son, Matthew, 28, works for a hedge fund in Chicago. His daughter, Stephanie, 26, is a director for a nonprofit social service agency in New York. His wife, Margo, works for Sferra in the accounts receivable department. The children all worked at the company warehouse during summer vacations, but all three are still figuring out exactly what they want to do with their careers.

Andrew suspects his father really wants to keep Sferra a family business, but he has encouraged Andrew to work three years at another company—and learn some business skills—before making the decision.

"We’ve joked about it forever," says Andrew. "Initially, deep down, I think he wanted it to be a family-run business . . . but the older he gets, he probably realizes the stress of running the business. Now he’s more, ‘I would love it if you would, but at the same time, I’d love it if you wouldn’t.’"

Hooker could sell the company outright tomorrow if he chose to. He has fielded numerous offers in recent years. He ascribes this to the rise in interest in alternative investments, as well as the strength of the brand built by him and his brother-in-law and former partner, George Matouk, who together converted a small wholesale operation into the high-profile brand. The company is known for its 1,020-thread-count sheets that sell for up to $15,000 and napkins that grace the White House dining room.

Hooker and Matouk acquired the company from its founder, the Sferra family. Italian patriarch Gennaro Sferra originally sold lace collars and doilies that he commissioned from nuns in Italian convents; he came to New York in 1891 with a plan to develop his market. His sons later expanded the venture. But in 1977, inheritor Albert Sferra, after learning that his only child wanted to become a pharmaceutical salesman instead of joining the business, approached Matouk about buying it. Matouk then asked Hooker to run it day-to-day in return for a partnership.