The Dodsal Group was founded in Mumbai, India, in 1948 by the Nandlal Kilachand family as a trading company in partnership with a British trading company (DODWEL) and Mr. Karsa Salem. The Dubai-based Group is currently led by Chairman Dr. Rajen A. Kilachand. Recently the group announced a major natural gas discovery in Tanzania. The [...]
Walkers Shortbread is a 118 year old Scottish manufacturer of shortbread, biscuits, cookies and crackers. The company is Scotland's biggest exporter of food. Joseph Walker founded the Aberlour, Banffshire-based business in 1898. His grandchildren Jim Walker, 71, and his brother Joe, 78 are currently managing the firm as joint managing director. Although the Walker brothers [...]
Mittelstand commonly refers to family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises in German-speaking countries, especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The importance of this group of companies can be gauged from the fact that the Mittelstands account for almost 55 per cent of Germany’s economic output. In the recent past, these companies have relied on Chinese markets [...]
Although family offices have existed among the overseas Chinese community, it has risen to prominence among the first generation high net worth (HNW) individuals in the last decade. As per the RBC World Wealth Report 2015, China’s population of HNW individuals grew 18% in 2015, and now sits at 758,000. The total wealth of this [...]
Edmond de Rothschild is a private bank headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is exclusively dedicated to wealth management for private and institutional clients. Originally founded in 1923, it was acquired by Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild in the mid-1960s. After his death in 1997, his son Benjamin de Rothschild took over the management. Benjamin is married [...]
The world's four biggest fashion businesses today – GAP, Zara, H&M and Uniqlo’s are all family-owned. All the four firms were able to take advantage of cheap manufacturing in the 90s, in China and other Asian countries. Perhaps that huge entrepreneurial success allowed the family to keep control, with no need for outside shareholders. Sweden’s [...]
Doosan Group is the oldest and 11th largest family controlled conglomerate in Korea. It took its first steps in 1896 when founder Park Seung-Jik opened a small linen store in Seoul. The 120-year-old chaebol has since been led by each of the founder’s sons. Park Yong-maan was the fifth son to control the group. Recently, [...]
Koch Industries, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading, and investments. It was founded as Wood River Oil and Refining Company in 1940 by Fred C. Koch. Koch companies are involved in industries such as the manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates [...]
Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the J. M. Smucker Company is a manufacturer of fruit spreads, ice cream toppings, beverages, shortening, natural peanut butter, and other products. The company was founded in 1897 by Jerome Monroe Smucker. The company is America's eighth largest shelf-stable food and beverage company, with eight of the No. 1 brands in [...]
Business tycoons in Hong Kong and Singapore are looking to diversify away from the stuttering Chinese economy, for the continued wealth and wellbeing of their family businesses. Among others Li Ka-shing, of the Sun Hung Kai Properties Empire, owned by the Kwok clan, has continued to buy assets in the US and Europe while divesting [...]