Another NFL season brings 32 family businesses into the spotlight

The NFL’s very precise ownership rules have long focused on concentrated ownership amongst individuals and families for its 32 franchises. The league doesn’t want any big corporate entity owning a team.  As a result, the NFL is basically a community of family-owned enterprises…

CMG Leadership Announcement

A key ingredient of all successful business families is strong, focused leadership. CMG is a business family too. And we’re pleased to announce the appointment of our first full-time CEO…

Samsung’s massive inheritance tax problem

Success never seems to come without challenges – and for the Lee family in Korea, there have been many. And, with the recent passing of Lee Kun-hee, his family and the Samsung empire face yet another challenge: an inheritance tax bill of nearly $11 billion USD…

Avoiding the estate planning pitfalls of rock stars

What do Pablo Picasso, Aretha Franklin, and Prince have in common? All were great artists in their own right, and each had a fair degree of ‘business smarts’ as they built their unique artistry. But they all died without a proper will or an estate plan in place…

Ted Rogers and his strategic use of corporate-owned life insurance

Entrepreneur, visionary, philanthropist and telecommunications giant, Ted Rogers was also a smart estate planner. He ensured that there was cash available to cover his tax liabilities at death ensuring the business he’d built – and grown could safely remain in his family’s hands…

Merck’s commitment to family governance

In a series of updates to our original story, we explore some of Merck’s best practices in more detail. Our first instalment focuses on family governance structures – and how Merck has used these to cultivate (and sustain) unity and stability within the family…

How billionaire families are contributing in a changing world

We identify five key findings and our favourite ‘sound bites’ from research jointly implemented by UBS and PwC – shining light on the impact of the past year towards billionaires, their wealth and businesses, and also to their philanthropy…

Spousal security, autonomy and independence

For successful business families, the issue of “spousal security” is rarely about money and net worth – and almost always about autonomy and control…