From SMEs To MNCs – 5 Family-Businesses That Inspire Every Entrepreneur
Can you imagine starting a business that will be functional even after 100 years from now?
It’s almost unthinkable in this launch-and-sell age, where myriad tech companies are born, built (barely) and sold to larger companies for a quick pay day for entrepreneurs and their antsy investors. But who are those larger companies? Those are the ones who started out small, with the vision mentioned above. You will be surprised to know that many of those Fortune 500 companies were once small, family-owned business.
We have compiled a list of 5 such companies featuring in Fortune Global 500:
1 WAL-MART
Family- Walton
Revenue- $ 476,294 millions
The Waltons are the richest family in America. The descendants of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, the family controls more than 50% of the Wal-Mart Corporation. Wal-mart holds the distinction of being not only the largest family business in the world, but also the largest company in the world in terms of revenues.
2 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
Family- Lee
Revenue- $ 208,938 millions
The word ‘Samsung’ is inextricably linked with smartphones and electronics. However, before Samsung Electronics, there was merely Samsung Sanghoe: a small trading company founded by Lee Byung-Chull in 1938 that dealt mostly in dried seafood, produce and its own noodles. Today, Samsung has made the work, play and entertainment experiences better for each of its customers and has become one of the giants in the global market.
3 FORD
Family- Ford
Revenue- $ 146,917 millions
Henry Ford founded this auto company more than 110 years ago with a dream of selling cars that the workingman could afford. When a car was considered as a luxury item and not something affordable to buy, Ford introduced large scale manufacturing of cars to the world. The company went public in 1956 and now manufactures more than 5.5 million automobiles in the world and employs more than 1,80,000 employees. Today, fourth- and fifth-generation Fords help run the company, where they still control 40% of the voting power through a special class of stock.
4 RELIANCE INDUSTRIES
Family- Ambani
Revenue- $ 73,332 millions
The richest person in India and MD of Reliance Industries, the largest Indian private sector enterprise, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani is a worthy example of business tycoon carrying forward legacy. In 1962, Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of RIL, started the Reliance Commercial Corporation to import polyester yarn and export spices with a capital of Rs.15,000. With no Oxford or Yale degree and no family capital, he achieved what the Elite “brown sahibs” of the ‘then India’ could not: he built an ultramodern, profitable, global enterprise in India itself. In 2004, Reliance emerged as the first and only private Indian organization to be listed in the Fortune Global 500 list.
5 TATA GROUP
Family- Tata
Revenue- $ 38,502 millions
Tata Group has evolved from being a family-owned business to becoming one of the best-run and professionally-managed groups in the world. Jamsetji Tata laid the foundations of Tata Group when he started a private trading firm in 1868. In 1874, he set up the Central India Spinning Weaving and Manufacturing Company Limited and thus marked the Group’s entry into textiles. Since then, there has been no looking back. Tata family has exemplified the true entrepreneurial spirit with over 100 companies in seven business sectors ranging from communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals.
If you are going to be a part of your family business in future, we can help you take it to the next level.
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