Ownership

Earth Day may come once a year each April, but its call to action reverberates far beyond a single month. Corporations respond with net-zero pledges, families with tree-planting rituals, and policy leaders with bold targets. Yet behind these headlines lies a quieter, more complex force: enterprising families.

Seven days, five Italian cities, six company visits, and more than a dozen engaging sessions—the “CAFE in Italy” Global Immersion course took 16 graduate students on a deep dive into the heart of Italian family enterprises. Led by Professor Gaia Marchisio, participants met with owners, next‐generation leaders, and seasoned advisors.

On October 1st, the Global Family Enterprise Program held its inaugural Owners' Day, a milestone event that brought together family enterprise leaders, students, alumni, and experts to explore the evolving role of ownership in today’s world. The event showcased the potential for family enterprises to not only drive economic success but to lead with values and create sustainable, positive change across industries, communities, and generations.

Our spotlight is on the latest groundbreaking work by Sheena Iyengar, the esteemed inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Division at Columbia Business School, and a renowned authority on choice and decision-making.

Entrepreneurship in the United States continues to be a major path to wealth creation for individuals and their families.

Dynastic-controlled firms are led by founding-family CEOs while the family owns an insignificant share of equity (defined as less than 5%).

The claim that most family businesses fail in the third generation is refuted in this study by Thomas Zellwegger and colleagues.

Most articles or speeches about family businesses start with some version of the “three-generation rule,” which suggests that most don’t survive beyond three generations.