Family Wealth - Keeping It in the Family

One of my earliest inspirations for The Business of Family was reading the seminal book by James (Jay) Hughes Jr, Family Wealth - Keeping It in the Family well over a decade ago. Hughes introduced us to the many forms of capital in family enterprises; Human, Intellectual, Spiritual, Social and Financial Capital.

The book beautifully articulates what it means to be an enterprising family and the practices to follow to “keep it in the family”.

In my opinion, Jay is one of the greats, a true pioneer who has contributed an enormous body of work over a 50+ year career advising families of wealth all around the world.

You can imagine my excitement when the opportunity presented to interview someone who I hold in such high regard. Someone who was always on “my wish list”.

At nearly 80 years old, Jay spent over 3 hours with me excitedly preparing, refining and presenting the stories he thought would be most value to share.

They say “never meet your heroes”. Not Jay, he exceeded my lofty expectations and then some. What a storyteller. What a privilege it was to listen, learn and now share with you all.

As I’ve shared previously, this project has been and continues to be the most amazing “serendipity engine”, creating opportunities to connect with interesting strangers and future friends all over the world.

Please enjoy the latest podcast with my new friend, Jay Hughes Jr.

Siemens is the name of a family of German technology and telecommunications industrialists, founders and to the present day largest shareholders of Siemens AG. The family have a wealth of over €8 billion, making them the 5th richest family in Germany, according to Handelsblatt.

The family tree begins with Ananias Siemens (ca 1538-1591), a citizen, brewer and owner of an oil mill at Goslar, belonging to the Shoemaker’s Guild, as his ancestors have been shoemakers.

His grandson Hans (1628–94), speaker of the Merchant’s Guild and commander of the town’s vigilance committee, built the Siemens House at Goslar in 1692. It is still owned by the family and houses their private archives and an exhibition on the family history.

Based on a market cap of €112billion, the Siemens family holds €7,7 billion worth of common stock in the company and received €201million in dividends in 2016. Considerable parts of this share have been endowed to charitable trusts controlled by family members.

Mike Boyd is the co-owner and CEO of the Vroom Group, Founder of Prosura insurance, Investor at Mudbrick Capital, Host of The Business of Family Podcast and an active member of YPO.