Everyone knows about famous and successful billionaire outliers such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg etc. — but have you heard of so-called “Hidden Champions”1 as well?
They’re mostly created by a visionary founder and often winning globally (either by market share or in owning certain niches) after one or two generations by keeping their secret sauce and culture together against all odds.
The result from such (and contrary to the aforementioned outliers) often very private, very steady and very long term success are generations of families and their heirs, being trained from a very early age on to not spoil the family heirloom. Instead they're encouraged to use their individual skills and unique position at the time to take it to the next level.
It is in this context that many years ago I was first introduced to the concept of so-called “Family Offices”2. Custodians of extraordinary (but very private) wealth, knowledge, network and experiences, family offices are often created by phenomenal founder personalities who managed to leverage their talent in entrepreneurship, savviness in business and their innovative spirit to create a legacy way beyond their time.
Family offices come in different shapes and forms (e.g. single vs. multi vs. virtual family offices, etc.) and the concept goes back (documented) at least two centuries, perhaps even much longer, however they all have one thing in common: they like privacy and they’re destined for purpose.
It’s therefore a great privilege to have Katja and Tobias from Prestel & Partner with me, who have been kindly sharing some very personal and humble lessons learnt from founding and running the World’s Leading Family Office Forum Conferences globally for well over a decade now.
Please enjoy this very special episode and take this as an opportunity to learn something about a world otherwise closed to most of us.
Wikipedia: Hidden champions.
Wikipedia: Family office.
Family Offices