As per a new study in the UK, almost all family businesses confess they are operating without a strategy for succession, despite knowing full well the issue of generational transition is looming. A remarkable 97% of family business owners surveyed complained of a lack of direction and purpose for their business and 95% admitted the [...]
The multinational network equipment maker, Ericsson was founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson. The Wallenberg family saved the company from bankruptcy in 1960, and has since controlled the company. However history seems to be repeating itself. In recent quarters, the company has been reporting declining revenues. The company is also being investigated by US [...]
The New York Times founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851, has won as many as 117 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Since 1896, when Adolph S. Ochs bought it, the Ochs-Sulzberger family has controlled the newspaper. “The Times,” Arthur Hays Sulzberger said in 1963 when he [...]
Cicli Pinarello SpA, the Italian bicycle maker, was founded in the early 1950s when Giovanni Pinarello, a professional cyclist, received 100,000 pounds to give up his spot at the 1952 Giro d’Italia road cycling competition. He used the money to open a workshop for hand-made bicycles, and Pinarello is now considered one of the top [...]
Atlantia SpA is an Italian holding company, controlled by the Benetton family, whose primary asset is Autostrade per l'Italia, the Italian toll-road operator. The main business interests of Atlantia are in infrastructure. The company which has been so far concentrated on projects in Italy now wants to reduce its dependence on the country as per [...]
In continuation with last week’s report on tie-ups among car majors, now a new alliance seems to be forming among Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. The two family run car manufacturers are in talks to share the burden of developing self-driving cars and low-cost vehicles. The alliance would provide Toyota a much needed [...]
A family owned old economy manufacturing behemoth such as Ford is turning towards services as its new growth engine. It intends to generate a 20% return on its new mobility services, or more than twice the profit margin from its traditional business. As per Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, it is part of [...]
Two family-owned carmakers BMW and Toyota coming from different parts of the world are cooperating on a number of new ventures. Toyota, owned by the Toyoda family, reported revenues of 28.4 trillion yen ($274 billion) in 2016, while BMW had revenues of €76.8 billion in 2013. The two auto makers are set to license technology [...]
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch the chief executive officer of 21st Century Fox, and Chairman of Sky plc received investor backlash earlier this week. This is significant as many analysts view this third-gen Murdoch, the youngest of Rupert Murdoch’s children by his second wife Anna, as the natural successor to his father, Australia-born American billionaire Rupert [...]
Family business leaders very often serve on one another’s boards. They not only share their experience but are also able to forge links with other important families in the international business world. In one such example John Elkann, 40, joined the board of the “new” News Corp as an independent, publicly-traded company following the separation [...]