Leading lights
It's that time of year again – CampdenFB's annual Top Family Business Leaders list. This year we bring you 60 of the most successful stewards and innovators in family business across the globe. It's almost time to reveal who made the grade.
The latest CampdenFB Family Business Leaders list brings you the brains behind some of the world’s most profitable and resilient enterprises. Family businesses are the mainstay of some of the world’s biggest economies, and many of the most famous brands across the globe are still stewarded by descendants of the founding family, who value longevity over making a quick buck. The US would be lost without its family companies, as they make up 64% of GDP. Equally Germany’s enviable economic might was built on the back of its family firms.
The family business model is also underpinning growth in the world’s emerging markets, and we’re prepared to bet that some of the names that currently dominate in their country of origin will be household brands all over the globe in the future.
This list is CampdenFB’s fourth annual Top Family Business Leaders list, and, aided by a panel of experts, we have scoured the globe to find the individuals heading some of the most innovative, fastest growing and influential businesses on the planet. As this is our 60th issue we bring you 60 business leaders you need to know about, rather than the usual 50, with the list divided into six regions – Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, South America and North America.
It is mostly new names this year, not because last year’s leaders have lost any of their business acumen, but because the panel thought it high time to get acquainted with some unfamiliar faces. Still, a few names have crept back on to the list – including Adriana Cisneros, who became chief executive of her family’s eponymous telecommunications company this year, having made the list in her role as vice-chairman last year. Naguib Sawiris of Orascom also made it back, having first been nominated in 2011 – this year he announced he would be investing heavily in his native Egypt despite the ongoing political unrest.
We hope the 2014 Family Business Leaders list will draw your attention to some people who have risen to the challenge and responsibility of taking the helm of their family business, and go some way towards giving them the recognition they deserve.
METHODOLOGY
CampdenFB drew up a long list of more than 200 family business leaders across the globe on the basis of these criteria:
• The candidate showed adherence to exceptional corporate governance and succession planning
• The candidate showed outstanding entrepreneurial talent in the context of the family business
• The candidate has been crucial to the successful running of the business and helped to underpin its revenue growth and profitability
The family business also has to meet certain criteria:
• The family controls at least 25% of the company’s decision-making rights
• The share capital controlled by the family is at least in its second generation
• The company had revenues of at least €100 million
REVENUE NOTES
Most revenue data represents full-year revenue to 31 December 2012. Fiscal year revenues, where a company’s financial year does not end on 31 December, are marked with an asterisk (*). A plus sign (+) denotes CampdenFB’s estimate of a company’s annual revenue based on publicly available data.
THE PANEL
CRISTINA CRUZ SERRANO
Professor of entrepreneurship and family business
Instituto de Empresa, Spain
NICHOLAS MOODY
Editor
Campden Wealth
MFONOBONG NSEHE
Journalist focusing on businesses and HNW individuals in Africa
KAVIL RAMACHANDRAN
Professor of family business and wealth management
Indian School of Business
Would you like to nominate someone for the 2015 Top Family Business Leaders list?
If you think there are other outstanding family business leaders who merit inclusion, please contact Nicholas Moody at nicholasmoody@campdenwealth.com.
