Hi all, here is my post for this week.
1. I have one famous family business story in mind - the Koch brother’s disagreement. In the United States, the Koch Family is well known –to some notorious, as the family owns a conglomerate of manufacturing and distribution of petrol, chemicals, minerals, coal, paper, etc., in essence, a vast array of raw and refined products like investment software - with $155 Billion disclosed yearly in revenue it is the second largest private company in the United States (New Yorker, 2018). Charles Koch was able to capitalize on his brother David’s increasing illnesses and took a decisive move to force him to step down from Koch Industries; to sources close to the family, it was alleged this battle had been going on for a long time, and finally Charles had capitalized on his brother's illness and won, taking complete control of the entire conglomerate (New Yorker 2018).
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-meaning-of-a-koch-brothers-retirement
2. When interviewing my partner this week, it was discussed when there was a situation concerning the expansion of the original business – from one source of revenue to an additional one, with family member A holding on to the original revenue stream and refusing to grow. Therefore, family member B chose to expand within the business outside the original revenue stream. In the end, it was a successful decision as family member B owns this new steam wholly; moreover, it has continued to evolve and grow into multiple vertical expansions, where family member B owns these operations completely and is free to expand without family member A preventing growth.
Let me know what you guys think!
Best,
Mitchell