Hello Everyone,
I've picked a few questions from the suggestions for week one.
Which famous family business you find the most fascinating and why?
One family business I find interesting is the Weston Family of Canada. Through their family office, Geroge Weston Limited employs an est. 250,000 Canadians through various businesses. In particular, Lobaw's, one of the most prominent grocery stores, and ten other supermarket chains from high to middle and low end, Shoppers Drug Mart, the most common pharmacy, and high fashion department stores. In the United Kindom, the family also owns Primarch and, up until 2022, Selfridges.
The varied collection of businesses is fascinating, considering how much risk and margin have to be balanced to make each portfolio profitable and financially feasible in the long term within a family structure that integrates both a family-owned and family-operated design.
2. What myths do the news media create about family businesses?
One common myth of the "Family Business" is the fixation on family businesses as towering and powerful entities. While there are notable family businesses worldwide, it is an unrealistic viewpoint. Most family-owned companies range from small to medium organizations and do not sway global economics as much as the media indicates - for example, Fox News by the Murdoc Family, LVMH by the Arnault Family, Koch Industries by the Koch family, etc. Ultimately, it gives many people a skewed understanding of a "family business."
Best,
Mitchell