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IESE’s mission has always reached far beyond any single discipline. The school exists to develop leaders who pursue excellence, act with integrity and serve the common good. This purpose shapes everything we do, whether it is preparing global executives and entrepreneurs or supporting the crucial role that family enterprises play in creating sustainable and human-centered economies.

Within this wider mission, our origins still matter. IESE was founded with a clear intention: to help Spanish entrepreneurs and family businesses professionalize, internationalize and find clarity in their long-term purpose. It was a vision inspired by St. Josemaría Escrivá, and it remains deeply embedded in the school’s identity. Although IESE has grown into a global institution with influence across countless sectors, this spirit continues to guide how we understand leadership, continuity and the responsibility that comes with stewarding a legacy.

This year’s Family Business Conference was a direct expression of that heritage and of our commitment to strengthening it. On November 15th, we welcomed around 250 participants from more than 60 nationalities to campus. The audience included representatives from Oxford, London Business School, INSEAD, HEC Paris, ESADE, IE Business School, Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School. Ten speakers joined us, and several attendees even crossed the Atlantic specifically to take part in the event. Their response was overwhelmingly positive and hosting them at IESE was truly a privilege.

The agenda of the day reflected the depth and diversity of perspectives that define the family business ecosystem. It unfolded as a sequence of conversations that blended insight, clarity and lived experience at the intersection of ownership, governance and leadership.

There were many interesting sessions from esteemed speakers throughout the day

We opened with Rob Lachenauer, who introduced his memorable kite metaphor. As someone who has never succeeded at any sport involving kites, his analogy struck unexpectedly close to home. Rob described a business as a kite with four edges, each one essential, and spoke about the challenge of keeping all sides in tension without losing one’s own agency as an owner. Mastering the business kite, it turns out, is far more important than mastering the sporting one.

Next came Nikolas Oetker, who delivered a line that stayed with the entire room: “Entrepreneurs are only as good as their exit.” His session on legacy transition and conflict resolution offered a sobering but inspiring view of the milestones awaiting many families in the years ahead.

We continued with Ferran González Feliubadaló, who explored the governance space between family, ownership and management. He left us with a quote that many noted down immediately: “No company does great things by never doing things wrong.” His clarity on disciplined governance resonated deeply, even when his mention of the balanced scorecard reminded some of us of exams around the corner.

The afternoon featured a Family Office panel moderated by Professor Juan Roure, with insights from Bruno Bodega, external CIO at Click Capital, and Ignacio del Valle, partner at Click Capital. They unpacked how a Family Office can evolve into a long-term strategic engine, how investment decisions should be governed and how to build a sustainable, institutionalized structure.

The conference closed with a Next Gen panel moderated by Rob Lachenauer and featuring first- and second-year MBA students Valeria Giovanna Giachetti, Abdul Rahman Mohamed Asharaf, Devansh Shah and Sydney Ontong Jnr. They shared their own family business stories, transitions and ambitions with remarkable openness. Their honesty transformed the room into a genuine learning lab, grounding theory in real, lived realities and giving voice to the new generation stepping into leadership.

Next-Gen panel featuring current MBA students

But while the content of the day was rich, the conference itself is only one step in a broader effort. As MBA students and club leaders, we are putting all our energy into positioning IESE as the global reference in family business education. We are surrounded by extraordinary schools, and we learn from them continuously, but what IESE offers is genuinely distinctive.

A powerful example of IESE’s commitment is the MBA elective course – Landing in Your Family Business, led by Professor Heinrich Liechtenstein. It illustrates how seriously the school approaches the preparation of next-generation leaders and how unique this type of training is in the international landscape.

Lots of good connections were made on that day. Thanks to everyone at IESE who helped make this event a success!

None of this would be possible without the support of those who have stood behind the project from the beginning. From the academic direction, our thanks go to Dean Franz Heukamp, Marc Badia and Álvaro San Martín. On the institutional side, we are grateful to Itziar de Ros-Reventós. And we want to give a very special mention to Sandra Vegas, whose dedication and support have been fundamental. She accompanied us through every step and made sure everything unfolded with precision and excellence.

Looking ahead, our ambition is clear. We want IESE to be recognized globally for its leadership in family business education. At the same time, we want to build a worldwide ecosystem that connects top business schools through meaningful collaboration, shared learning and long-term continuity. Over the past year, we have experienced this dynamic firsthand at Harvard’s Global Families in Business conference, at the HEC trek in Paris and at the London Business School event. Now, with our own conference, IESE is taking its place as the starting point of this global cycle of engagement.

By the time our term comes to an end, we are confident that IESE will be widely recognized for what it already is: a school uniquely able to prepare future leaders to take on the responsibilities of their family businesses with professionalism, vision and purpose. The foundation is already here. Our mission is simply to bring it to the world.

Written by Juan Antonio Acedo and Dominique Nelson, MBA 2026