Our Latest Articles
//June 16, 2025 - Issue #144
Unready and Unadvised: The Silent Crisis in Family Wealth Transfer A study of 13,500 family firms shows that nearly half of heirs don’t know where the assets are -- and 3 in 5 wouldn’t know what to do if the founder died suddenly.
When Family Businesses Should Think Like Private Equity Firms Adopting all or even some PE investor strategies can add value and enhance competitiveness, especially when a successor takes over or the company may be sold. 
The Emotional Downside of Exiting Your Business While the money is nice, selling a business is not a happily ever after. Depression is not uncommon.
A Family Council Can Help Larger Families Stay Connected Consider one if your family business has 15 or more relatives involved, or multiple generations.
AI Adoption in Family Business: Balancing Trust and Tech Using AI can be risky in settings where confidentiality is key, but it can be indispensable in developing innovative services that clients expect. Here's how to harness it safely. 
A New Way to Resolve Extreme Conflict in Family Businesses Family members may feel “trapped” in conflicts, unable to resolve substantive issues without damaging their familial relationships. This often leads to disputes that persist for decades. 
Merging With Another Family Firm is Safer and Smarter Family business mergers enjoy greater harmony and better financial performance than mergers involving non-family firms.
Your Family’s Mental Model Might Be Fueling Its Conflicts Different ways of thinking shape how families make decisions, resolve tensions, and pass leadership across generations.
Vision matters—but so does individualized consideration. This study shows nonfamily managers perform better when CEOs pair transformational leadership with genuine, personalized attention and political skill. Read more...
Successors recommit when roles align with their values, skills, and life stage—and when family dynamics allow earlier experiences to be reinterpreted. Read more...
Family firms don’t have goals—people do. The rise and fall of Italy's Florio dynasty shows how successor motivation shapes the balance between growth, legacy, and community—and how families can build more durable, values-led leadership. Read more...
As family attitudes towards wealth, purpose, and legacy evolve, their offices are doing more than just managing wealth, a study shows. Read more...
Editorial offices located at St Thomas University
Supported by the Richard M Schulze Family Foundation