Naples ultra-high net worth services firm finds exit strategy

When Michael Benson walked into his golf and country club in Naples recently, he was met with congratulations and attaboys all around on his pending “retirement.”

News trickled out that the company he founded 46 years ago, Naples-based Benson Blackburn, a financial services firm that specializes in insurance consulting for ultra-affluent families and closely held businesses, had been acquired. While true, Benson, 66, rebuffed the R-word. “I said, ‘wait a minute, I’m not retiring,’” Benson says. “I’m just getting started. I’m excited as ever to take this business to the next level.”