Before Mercury, California auto insurers typically specialized in drivers categorized either as low-risk or as high-risk, but Joseph saw a need for a carrier that could take on almost any customer, analyzing data to set competitive -- yet profitable -- rates.
"My thought was, there must be a proper rate for all those exposures -- why not do it all in one company?" Joseph said.
Mercury was among the first insurers to set up a special unit to investigate suspected cases of fraudulent claims, burnishing a reputation as a tight ship.
But perhaps a bigger key to Mercury's success is the bond between the company and its army of independent agents, which now numbers 4,900 in 15 states.
Mercury works agents harder than many of its competitors do, requiring detailed customer applications and, in some cases, vehicle photographs.
But the company pays hefty commissions and bonuses and Joseph makes himself available to agents who have questions, said Brian Sullivan, editor of Auto Insurance Report, an industry newsletter based in Dana Point.
"A lot of CEOs think they're above talking to the salespeople, but he is not like that at all," Sullivan said.
Joseph is amiable and even-keeled, said his executive secretary, Judy Walters, who has worked with him for 38 years. "He never loses his temper -- ever."
Joseph knows how to motivate his employees as well as his agents.
When a small team was creating Mercury's original computer system, progress was slow and tempers were high. Joseph handed each person a generous but unsigned check, promising a signature when the system went live.
Joseph still works a full week, driving the one-mile commute from his Hancock Park home in his black 1985 Jaguar Vanden Plas, and he makes a point to call customers who send letters seeking his help. He has turned over daily operations to Mercury President Gabriel Tirador, shifting his focus to company strategy and public policy issues.
Outside of work, the entrepreneur, who has five adult children from his two marriages, enjoys a quiet home life with his second wife, Vicky. He plays tennis three times a week, tends his garden and unwinds at night with trade magazines and field reports from his agents.
"We're not very sociable people," he said. "I have an invitation tonight to go to Gov. Schwarzenegger's house for dinner, but we're not going to go."
