Perspectives from ISB

The Family Business Chair of the University of Seville (Spain), sponsored by Banco Santander, has recently come out with a ranking of the top 250 Multinational Family Firms. Firms that were included in the study had the following characteristics: A) One or more families exercise effective control over the ownership of the firm; B) They are international, that is to say, they have an important international presence; and C) The family is involved in the business, in that a member of the owning family sits on the board of directors and, in many cases, is the firm’s CEO.

Overall firms from 38 different countries were represented in the rankings. However the study found that 48.4 per cent of the firms are from Europe, followed by companies from North America (25.2%), and Asia (18.2%). The study also found that 46 per cent of the firms in the rankings were in the third or further generation and the majority (25%) of family businesses spoke English followed by German (20%). Six Indian firms found place in these rankings as shown below.

Ranking

Company

Generation

Countries

19

Reliance Industries

2nd

From 100 to 150

35

Aditya Birla Group

4th

From 25 to 49

38

Essar Group

2nd

From 25 to 49

159

Adani Group

1st

Less than 10

198

HCL Corporation

2nd

From 25 to 49

208

Ruchi Group

2nd

From 25 to 49

Source: http://www.multinationalfamilybusiness.com/