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Ancestry CEO Howard Hochhauser says he learned to eat lunch among employees from Ace Greenberg, the billionaire who led Bear Stearns, where Hochhauser worked in the late 1990s. Hochhauser sees the shared meal as a visible sign of accessibility—and a way to hear candid reactions that may not travel easily through a company’s hierarchy.
What Hochhauser learned from Ace Greenberg
In a Fortune interview published October 11, 2026, Hochhauser recalled seeing Greenberg eat on the floor at Bear Stearns. “Ace Greenberg, who founded the firm, sat on the floor every day, and it stuck with me. Like, gosh, that’s really a visible statement. He’s really accessible,” Hochhauser told Fortune. “You could talk to him, he wasn’t sitting in some glass office that’s untouchable.”
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Hochhauser says he carries that example into his own role at Ancestry: he eats in the office eating area with employees rather than making lunch a private executive routine. The behavior is simple, but its meaning is deliberate. Being physically present in a shared space can signal that the CEO is approachable.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhy he believes lunch can surface unfiltered information
Hochhauser says one challenge for CEOs is getting information that has not been softened as it moves up the organization. “People wrap you in this bubble…And so if you’re breaking bread with people casually over lunch, you tend to get that [information],” he told Fortune.
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His reasoning is that an informal conversation can make it easier for employees to describe how decisions and policies feel in practice. The interview says he has had to remind staff about in-person working expectations and that employees were honest about their feelings. That is an anecdote about feedback he received, not evidence that every employee shares the same view.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the practice can—and cannot—show
Shared lunches are one low-formality way for a leader to encounter employees and hear reactions. They are not, by themselves, a systematic measure of staff sentiment. Who happens to be present, who feels comfortable speaking, and which topics come up can all shape what a CEO hears.
Fortune’s interview presents Hochhauser’s explanation for the habit; it does not establish that eating with employees causes better business outcomes or that casual meals outperform scheduled listening sessions or employee surveys. His point is narrower: he believes informal access can help him understand how company decisions land with staff.
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- Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.
- Publisher: Page Two
- Pages: 244
- Publication Date: 2016-02-29
- Edition: 1
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