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Business in the Blood

Some grandfathers teach grandsons to fish. Terence E. Adderley Jr.'s taught him to read The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Adderley, known as Ted, was born with business in his blood and relished it. His grandfather, William Russell Kelly, founded Kelly Services, a temp agency based in Michigan.

By the time Mr. Adderley was 12, he was picking his own stocks. He went to his grandfather's university — Vanderbilt — and joined his grandfather's fraternity, Sigma Chi. In the summers, he worked at Kelly and practiced dry wit. He teased co-workers about trivial mistakes by signing letters to them in a script similar to the company's chief executive — his father, Terence E. Adderley.

At 22, he found Wall Street an easy fit. He shared a preference for French cuffs and collars with his new boss, the veteran Wall Street money manager David Alger.

Mr. Adderley planned ahead and family always figured prominently. His sister Elizabeth's 17th birthday fell in October. From her brother, she received a watch with a blue band (her favorite color) and gloves. Mr. Adderley had bought them for her by August, along with a pink scarf. It was not pashmina.

"He didn't care for pashmina," said Mr. Adderley's mother, Mary Beth. "If he was going to buy something for his sister, it was going to be cashmere."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 25, 2001.