For many business families, a family office takes shape before anyone calls it one. Dividends accumulate, a division is sold and the family holding company builds a portfolio beyond its stake in the operating business. Eventually, that wealth requires its own resources, people and decisions. Pontegadea offers a well-known example. Created in 2001 to reinvest…

In many family businesses, the main shareholders also serve on the board of directors. It makes sense. They know the company’s history, bring the owners’ perspective, feel personally invested in the business and have a clear interest in its continuity. But being logical doesn't mean being free of risk. In this article, we’ll examine both…

Imagine this scenario: for the first time in its history, a family business is considering appointing a non-family CEO. An initial question might be: Is the family ready for this next stage? But this question might be too broad. Owners may agree that they want to keep the company in the family for generations, yet…

Virginia Evans’ debut novel The Correspondent has become one of the literary surprises of the past year. The novel follows Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer living alone in Annapolis. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was eight. The story is told entirely through the…