Many business leaders predicted that “family businesses” would eventually become irrelevant, that they would be supplanted by better organized and better capitalized public companies.  Public companies, with their diverse pool of shareholders, professional managers, and better corporate governance would have the clear competitive advantage.  Not so, claims a recent special report from The Economist.

In fact, many of the world’s largest companies are family-owned or controlled. This list includes BMW, Samsung, LG, Mars, Ikea, Walmart, Heineken, and Hermès. The report explores why this phenomenon will only become more prevalent in the next century, especially as Asia becomes more dominant in the modern economy.

Read more atThe Economist