Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses [Hardcover]

David S. Landes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2006

A rich and lively survey of the great families who rule industry by the acclaimed author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

Through perseverance, solid ingenuity, and unwavering determination, family-run companies— dynasties—have dominated wealth and business throughout the last two centuries. One third of Fortune 500 firms are family owned and, in most cases, the ideal of the family business is one synonymous with continuity, watchful leadership, and dedication to success. But what happens when bad behavior, extravagance, and laziness—all very real enemies of industry—are allowed to proliferate?

In Dynasties, bestselling author and historian David S. Landes scrutinizes the powerful family businesses that rule both the financial and industrial sectors across Europe, Japan, and America to determine what factors can cause a dynasty to flourish or fail. Focusing on three areas—banking, automobiles, and raw materials—his cast of characters speaks to the power of the family enterprise: Ford, Rothschild, Morgan, Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and Toyoda are but a few whose histories contain all the drama and passion expected when exorbitant money, power, and kinship intersect. Drawing on his immense knowledge of economic history, Landes offers a new reading of the dynastic business plan of the last two centuries—with surprising recommendations for the coming one.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning as a work of economics, moving through soap opera and finishing as history, this book tells the stories of 11 great family businesses in Europe, Japan and America with at least three generations of family control. Observing that the vast majority of businesses are family owned and run, historian Landes (The Wealth and Poverty of Nations) argues that dynastic businesses offer a proven route to developing emerging markets, while companies managed by unrelated professionals and funded by public investors offer mostly bad jobs and slim profit shares to local employees. Even among the largest corporations, many retain significant financial and managerial involvement by the founder's relatives, and those that do perform better than the others. Landes's stories emphasize emotional life within these dynasties; he includes business details and general economic history only as context for family adventures and feuds. His emphasis is on how family considerations such as authority, love, trust, envy, marriage, adoption and succession determine the growth and direction of the business. While this may seem irrational compared to entrusting strategic decisions to specialized professionals selected according to talent rather than bloodline, Landes argues that family does a better job. (Sept. 25)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Historian Landes profiles business dynasties from the seventeenth century to the present. Defining a dynasty as three successive generations of family control and success, he focuses on banking, automobiles, and raw-materials industries, with fascinating stories of families, including the Barings, Morgans, Fords, Toyodas, Rockefellers, Guggenheims, and Schlumbergers. The varied histories of these families from different eras highlight the combination of money, power, and kinship that inevitably gives rise to drama and passion with the passage of generations. We learn the important influence that culture in the surrounding societies plays in the development of these dynasties and the author's conclusion that contrary to conventional wisdom, the family firm today is not obsolete or inconsequential. Landes tells us, "These tales trace the tangled histories of legendary lineages. . . . We can learn a great deal about business from these dynasties; moreover, these are extraordinary men and women, full of eccentricities and genius, and they provide a wealth of entertaining tales." Indeed. This is an excellent book. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (September 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033383
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033386
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #897,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I, on the Other Hand, Liked it, November 5, 2007

By 

CJA "CJA" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses (Hardcover)

Contrary to the other reviewers, I thought this was a worthwhile and interesting read. The subject matter is compelling given that, as Landes points out, many of the great companies of the world start out as family run and were handed down within the family for at least two more generations.

Landes rather convincingly shows that while long term adaptation requires shifting to professional management, the family-run model holds unique advantages that explains the critical early success of the enterprise. Loyalty, passion for the business, esprit de corps, willingness to re-invest in the business, and long-term thinking are all characteristics of the family-run business. Professional management tend to think in more short-sighted ways and the shift from the family as well as the alientation brought on by the big money paid professional managers can seriously erode morale.

All of which raises the issue of why we tolerate the compensation structures of professional managers. It would seem preferable to restructure financial incentives to reward long-term thinking. Perhaps we should think about lower salaries that don't completely alienate the rest of the workforce as well as stock options or deferred compensation tied to long-term corporate performance.

Landes is thoughtful and entertaining and has wonderful anecdotes. The portrayals of Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller are all very striking and amusing.

I recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, successful family businesses that grew into dynasties, February 29, 2008

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses (Hardcover)

You know the names: Rothschild, Rockefeller, Ford, Toyota, Guggenheim. Yet, economists rarely analyze the impact of family enterprises. Bestselling author and scholar David S. Landes corrects this imbalance with his study of 11 enduring, influential dynasties. He defines a dynasty as a successful business held within one family's control for at least three generations. Family companies, even immense ones, often follow a predictable pattern: First, an ambitious, clever, hard-working patriarch, and, perhaps, his children, found a big, profitable business. Then, the following generations spend the accumulated wealth instead of adding to it. Yet, there are fascinating anomalies within this model - from amazing philanthropy to bad apples. The dramas behind family ties that unravel (or knit more strongly) in the face of big money make each chapter read like an absorbing novel. Sometimes Landes' attempt to track every branch of a family tree can leave the reader out on a limb, yet getAbstract warmly recommends this entertaining work to anyone with an interest in history, economics or family dynamics.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Uhhh, Ohhhh, Ehhhh, In a word? Disappointing!!!, June 6, 2007

By 

Gustavo B. Horbach "a reader" (Porto Alegre, BRAZIL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses (Hardcover)

David Landes has written one - not only in my opinion, I believe - of the "must read" book of all times: ''The wealth and poverty of Nations'' . Based on this, You can tell the amount of expectation on every single line he writes, and "Dynasties" unfortunately does not help at all. The book is too long, too superficial, and some times it was really hard to keep on reading. If you are looking for something to chat on cocktails and/or with your colleagues at the cafeteria - there are some interesting stuf in here. In the other hand, if you are looking for some analysis on the familiar enterprises and their evolution (organizational, structural, etc.) - search somewhere else.