Our business investor's wife continually interfering with our business

[Disgruntled]

Last year DH accepted an offer to take up residence in a high profile position. He is very good at his job, and is becoming quite well-known in his field.
The business we are involved in uses his name and anything the company does is done in his name and he is fully accountable. However, he has nothing at all to do with the finances of the business and seems to be expected to relinquish all final say in matters relating to the business to the man who bankrolls it. This would not be so much of a problem, except for the fact that this man's wife has moved in on the running of everything. She docks our staff if they are off sick, she insists on disciplinary measures for people whom she thinks have stepped out of line at work, she over rules DH on professional matters, and now she is in my office on an almost daily basis, giving me orders and making me sign my name to correspondence I would not have devised myself. She combs through invoices, questioning each and every one of them, and refusing to pay them until the bailiffs are practically knocking. Now she has given me a full set of instructions as to how I should be running the office and watching everything I am doing, as though we can't be trusted on our own. I now hate going into work, and need to leave for the sake of my sanity. However I am worried about how her (often questionable) decisions will reflect on DH if any official complaints are ever made as his is the name on the licence, so to speak. As if this wasn't all bad enough, we are forced to run the business on a skeleton staff, which leads to me and DH especially having to put in a massive amount of hours, wearing many hats and getting it in the neck if anything ever gets missed or forgotten. We are both exhausted but still skint because we don't get any expenses, despite DH having to travel and spend days away at least 5 times a week. I feel we are putting it all in and getting nothing back, but DH's hands are tied because if he leaves, he loses what is essentially his business and we don't have the funds to go it alone. Sorry it's so long, but any advice would be very much appreciated.

He is a private investor, Xenia. His wife is not included in the deal. My DH's agreement is between himself and this man. DH is not a director, he simply provides the expertise and public face of the company. The company bears DH's name, but he has no official capacity within it. He is an employee of the company. This man pays the bills, DH provides the service (and many other unpaid and unrecognised services besides) and the wife just meddles. She makes decisions on staffing, operations and invoicing despite having no recognised job within the company. She just sees it as her right to tell us what to do, as I suppose she considers that whatever belongs to her DH is also rightfully hers.

Have to go and make something for dinner now, but thanks for all your advice. Continue on, in my absence, and I will check back later. Thanks alot.

So your husband is very valuable to all this. He probably in his employment contract agreed his name could be used for this business only whilst he worked there - have you read his employment contract and any other licence or arrangement he has with the business? If he did then he can threaten them to withdraw their right to use his name etc and set up on his own - subject to what the contract says and he can use that to bargain either to keep the wife out of the way or to get at least some equity in the company (shares) in return for sticking around may be.

I think your dh is in a stronger position than he thinks he is Dg, especially if the last person his "boss" bankrolled also left because of the wife - what's the industry gossip been like on that one? I do appreciate that in a business like yours, where reputation is all, it is difficult to make waves even where it is completely obvious to everyone that they are abusing you both.
Could your dh speak in confidence to some of the underlying clients (I'm assuming their are other clients) and see if they would follow him if he moved somewhere else? Or even if one of them is prepared to bankroll him to set up a different operation, albeit on a smaller scale - if dh is as good as you say you know it won't be long before you get bigger.

Disgruntled - if you want to discuss this privately off board then please CAT me.

It would be so much easier to give specific advice if the situation were clearer.

Change shareholder.

Prufrock, the problem with the last man they bankrolled is that he was a bad investment, and took them for a ride, perhaps that is a big part of the problem - they are extra wary and keeping an eye on us in case we are the same. I must add, though, that since DH's arrival the place has turned around like you wouldn't believe. In fact, a very respected industry insider told my DH the other day that his was 'probably the best start by a new young (DH's job) that he could remember'. Which is no faint praise. If they are wary of us not doing things properly, that should have remedied itself by now by DH's brilliant achievements and the obvious dedication he has.