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Business Daily: Why family businesses run the world

19/10/2009

Why family businesses run the world

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Why family businesses run the world

Why family businesses can survive for centuries, with Ernest Antoine Seilliere.

We look at the passions which drive family businesses, with Ernest Antoine Seilliere from the French Wendel family empire.

Family businesses run much of the world, especially in developing countries. Often their downfall comes when relatives squabble. We talk to Ernest Antoine Seilliere, of the Wendel family empire, a business which survived the French Revolution and dozens of recessions. Nowadays it invests in various businesses, including the construction group St Gobain. 
The group has had a turbulent time recently with a family feud over the direction of the business, large losses and concerns about levels of debt. And we talk to Professor Randal Carlock of INSEAD business school about whether family businesses have the same problems of succession and strategy, in every region of the world.

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