In the 1970s, the average lifespan of a S&P500 company was 30-35 years. This decade it is expected to decline to 15-20 years1. It is not uncommon that many companies struggle to keep up with the times, but there are a few remarkable ones that have thrived for decades, sometimes centuries. Companies like DuPont (founded in 1802), Camuffo (1438), Beligné & Fils (1610), Merck (1668), and S.C. Johnson (1886). But how did these companies stay afloat during countless global, financial, and societal transformations? The answer might surprise you.
The most long-lived companies in the world share two features.
- First, the majority are family-owned businesses, controlled and often still managed by the founder’s descendants. For example, take the Henokiens, a remarkable association of 52 companies created over 200 years ago: each of these companies specifically tie their success to being family owned and dependent on the legacy of their families and origin.
- Second, these companies display a very strong sense of attachment to the foundational values of the business. These values are handed down across generations of family owners, and still represent a North Star even when the business has grown into a multinational business group. For example, the Walton family’s values of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging” are still central in all Walmart enterprises; the iconic legacy of Gianni Agnelli has shaped two generations of the history of FIAT; the Kirk Kristiansen family’s “active and engaged family ownership through generations” is widely acknowledged as a key strength of LEGO.
These perennial companies are not just run by managers, but by owners who are deeply invested in the success of their business, and who have a strong sense of attachment to their company’s foundational values. They understand that success is not just about making a profit. It’s about creating a value that is meant to last for generations to come.
When we distill this further, we find an undeniable sense of ownership accompanied by personal responsibility for the company’s success. Genetic legacy isn’t the sole requirement for emotional investment. When managers and employees feel this sense of ownership, they become more engaged, more productive, and more committed to the company’s success.
Having an ownership mindset isn’t always inherited. Family-owned and non-family-owned companies can bring this way of thinking to life by developing and refining ownership competences over time. Companies can promote accountability and empowerment with certain skills and insight to succeed. By doing so, they can create a more collaborative and effective work environment, one where everyone, not just family legacy, works towards the same goals and embraces positive attachment for the organization.
The example of long-lived family businesses
In 1886, the entrepreneurial spirit of the Johnson brothers (Robert, James, and Edward) gave rise to a powerful legacy in healthcare with the founding of Johnson & Johnson. This family business began with a focus on sterile surgical dressings, but the company’s instilled entrepreneurial mindset soon drove them to innovate and adapt amidst challenges and technological shifts. By 1900, Johnson & Johnson had already pioneered standardized first aid and maternity kits, dental floss, and feminine products. The ownership mindset was further cemented by influential figures like Robert Wood Johnson II and particularly Robert Wood Johnson III. The latter introduced the “Credo,” a reflection of the company’s responsible business practices that put the needs of patients, doctors, and employees at the forefront and would continue to do so throughout generations. Though Johnson & Johnson transitioned to a publicly traded company in 1944, the family’s ownership mindset ensured the preservation of its founding principles. Robert Wood Johnson Jr.’s leadership up to 1963 further illustrated the ingrained family values that continue to guide the company. Recently, when Johnson & Johnson spun off Kenvue the Credo was still at the center of the organization. This instilled the legacy and heritage in the new company even as the innovate and take on new challenges and ways of working.
Another great example of a long-lived family legacy is Merck Group. Beginning in 1668 with Friedrich Jacob Merck’s acquisition of a modest pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany, the Merck family’s rooted entrepreneurial mindset set the foundation for a business legacy that spans 350 years. Even as they evolved into a global conglomerate, the Merck Group’s continued to focus on science and technology as well as patents and safety as core objectives. You see the still present ownership mindset in research investments, their collaboration with academic institutions, and partnering with innovative start-ups to foster scientific advancements. They have implemented patient access programs around the world for underserved populations and have some of the most robust pharmacovigilance programs in the world to monitor the safety and efficacy of their products. Even when the Merck Group went public in 1995, the family’s majority stake of 70.3% signified a continued embrace of their entrepreneurial roots, balancing a rich heritage with the evolving demands of a modernized business.
Sella Group is another remarkable example of a long-lived family enterprise able to leverage entrepreneurship across many generations. The entrepreneurial history of the Sella family dates to 1570 in the textile industry, with a company that thrived in the hands of the Sella family for centuries, crossing multiple technological disruptions. In the meantime, in 1886, Gaudenzio Sella led the family into a new entrepreneurial initiative in the banking industry. And again, succeeding generations of family entrepreneurs were able to transform the traditional local bank to innovate, continuously adapting to the fast-changing environment. While most, if not all, local family-owned banks ended up acquired and integrated in larger multinational groups, Banca Sella consolidated itself as a major player in the industry, withholding a strong differentiating identity as a “family-owned business”. As the new generation of family members entered the business, they embraced the entrepreneurial mindset of their ancestors, launching initiatives that marked again major transformations for the group, from the launch of the first online account and ecommerce payment solution in Italy, to the foundation of the private banking arm of the group, while expanding significantly as a leader in the emerging fin-tech industry. When asked about the “secret souse” of their success, the Sella family often emphasizes lessons learned from past generations: a continuous attention to innovation, and the courage to self-disrupt itself in the wake of external changes.
Conclusion
The world’s longest-lived companies show us that resilience is not simply a product of market position or financial strength. Their durability stems from something deeper: a cultivated ownership mindset grounded in shared values and strong purpose. These businesses remind us that true success is measured not only in profits, but also in the ability to endure, adapt, and pass on a legacy that transcends any single generation. In an era when corporate lifespans are shrinking, their example is both timely and instructive. Ownership, when embraced as stewardship rather than entitlement, is the engine of longevity. The challenge for today’s organizations is to recognize this and to consider how they, too, can think and act like owners to create companies built to last. The next part in this series will cover clear steps any business can take to embrace the owner mindset.
Design:
Natalie Gramling, Art Director, BCG BrightHouse
1 https://www.innosight.com/insight/creative-destruction/