Ancestry CEO Howard Hochhauser says he learned the value of eating lunch among employees from Ace Greenberg, his boss at Bear Stearns in the late 1990s. Hochhauser sees the shared meal as a visible sign that a leader is accessible—and a chance to hear how decisions and workplace policies feel to staff.
What Hochhauser learned from Ace Greenberg
In a Fortune interview published October 11, 2026, Hochhauser recalled that Greenberg, who founded Bear Stearns, sat on the floor every day. Hochhauser said the example stayed with him as a visible statement of accessibility: “You could talk to him, he wasn’t sitting in some glass office that’s untouchable.”
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Hochhauser now eats in Ancestry’s office eating area among employees. The point, as he describes it, is not simply sharing a meal; it is making it easier for staff to approach the CEO in an ordinary setting.
Why he says casual lunches can matter
Hochhauser says executives can have trouble getting “unfiltered information” because people may soften or filter what they tell leaders. He believes informal conversation over lunch can help him hear employees’ reactions more directly and understand how decisions and policies land with them.
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The interview offers his explanation, not evidence that lunch conversations cause better company outcomes. It also recounts that Hochhauser has had to remind staff about in-person working expectations and that employees were candid about their feelings. That is an anecdote, not a measure of how all Ancestry employees view the policy or the CEO’s approach.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the practice can—and cannot—tell a leader
A shared meal may lower the formality of speaking with an executive, but access still depends on who is present, who feels comfortable joining the conversation, and whether people believe candor is safe. A lunch table can surface individual experiences; it cannot, by itself, establish how widespread those experiences are.
Hochhauser’s account therefore makes a modest leadership point: informal presence can create an opportunity to listen outside scheduled channels. The interview does not compare lunch with structured listening sessions or employee surveys, nor does it show that the practice alone solves communication gaps.
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- Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.
- Publisher: Page Two
- Pages: 244
- Publication Date: 2016-02-29
- Edition: 1
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