Why Gifting a Family Business to the Next Generation is Destroying Family Wealth

A staggering 90% of all operating businesses in America are family owned and controlled.  The vast majority will never be sold but rather gifted to family. And yet only 30% of these firms will survive the transition.  Prepare to unlearn everything you think you know about family business succession planning as the author of the all-time best-selling family business book, Every Family’s Business, shares his contrarian views on a subject as old as business itself.

With more than 1 million copies sold, author and full-time professional speaker Dr. Tom Deans will make a fresh and compelling argument that CEPAs may be the most effective group of professionals to help protect family business owners from the biggest threat of all – themselves. Starting from the premise that every business should be sold, Dr. Deans will make the case that by starting with the end in mind – their exit – they will actually build a more valuable business today.   With more than 2,000 paid speeches in 27 countries, Deans uses humor and his own experience as a family business CEO to inspire advisors to remind business owners that their greatest legacy is not their business, but rather their family.