Sharing our thinking

CMG regularly updates our thinking on research, trends, and stories about business families and how best to support them.

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The role of non-family members in Merck's sustained success

Our latest update focuses on the role of non-family members at Merck, outlining a number of observations of their involvement within the thirteen generation family business...

The continuing resilience of the world’s largest 500 family businesses

The 2021 EY and University of St. Gallen Family Business Index reveals how family businesses are maintaining the health of the global economy through economic dominance and resilience. Here are a few highlights that stood out to us...

The Estée Lauder family: three generations of successful ownership

The Lauder Family: 75 years (and three generations) of successful ownership, overcoming challenges and their continued prosperity...

Steve Landau joins CMG in independent tax consulting role

We're continuously striving to improve, and we’re pleased to announce that Steve Landau has joined CMG on a part-time basis as an independent tax consultant...

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...

What if you could test drive your estate plan to ensure it really works?

Imagine this scenario. All of the estate documents are prepared. You've got the right people in place to fulfill the key executor and trustee roles. Covered all the bases. Or at least it seems that way. What could possibly go wrong?...

Warren Buffett and his deep admiration for business families

Here are three things that stood out to us in Warren Buffett's most recent letter to the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders...

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...