NEWLY UPDATED - September 2008

The World’s Oldest Family Companies

Cheers to the survivors.

Wine is classic—it improves with age and doesn’t go out of style. The winemaking families on our list of the world’s oldest family companies would certainly drink to that. A total of 19 family companies from nine countries have continued for more than two centuries as producers of wine, beer, sake or liquor. The “youngest” on our list, Mexican tequila company Jose Cuervo (tied for 96th), was founded in 1758; the oldest, France’s Château de Goulaine (tied for second), dates all the way back to 1000.

Family business researchers estimate that less than a third of all family companies make it to the second generation. So the odds that a family enterprise will survive to the 46th generation, like Japanese innkeeper Houshi Onsen (first on our list), are long indeed. Here, however, are 100 family companies that have survived for at least seven generations. The frustrating part? There appears to be no universal formula for survival.

The companies on our list operate in a wide range of industries—from the practical, like paper (France’s Richard de Bas, #7) and pencils (Germany’s Faber-Castell, tied for #100), to the indulgent, like perfume (Farina Gegenüber of Cologne, Germany, #71) and licorice (Amarelli Fabbrica de Liquirizia of Rossano Scalo, Italy, #82). Perhaps the secret to success lies not in what the companies produce, but in how they adapt. In 1697 Folkes Group (#65) began making chain mail and swords. Now, they’re in real estate.

Even the most adaptable companies will meet difficulty, though. In 2001, when we published our first list of this kind, Kongo Gumi, a Buddhist temple construction company founded in 578, ranked as the world’s oldest family firm. But in 2006, Kongo Gumi closed, burdened with decreasing demand and $343 million in debt. (See story below.)

“Even a well-managed family business will, over time, have to deal with death, incapacity, recessions and the fading of the entrepreneurial spark,” wrote Charles Batchelor of the Financial Times in July 2007. “Despite these obstacles, some businesses have shown a remarkable ability to survive within family ownership.”

The companies on our list truly deserve a toast.

Leah Kristie served as a student intern at Family Business in summer 2007. We extend special thanks to Professor William T. O’Hara, founder and executive director of Bryant College’s Institute for Family Enterprise in Smithfield, R.I., and his associate Peter Mandel, who conducted the research for our earlier list with support from John Gunasti.

In with the old; out with the older

With temple-builder Kongo Gumi no longer under family ownership, Houshi Onsen, a Japanese spa and inn, is now the world’s oldest family firm.

The king is dead; long live the king.

When Osaka temple-builder Kongo Gumi, founded in 578, succumbed in 2006 after struggling for more than a decade to deal with overextension and recession in its primary business, a new—so to speak—company assumed the mantle of world’s oldest family firm still in operation.

Houshi Onsen, a spa and inn located in the mountains a few hours from Tokyo, was founded in 718, by which time Kongo Gumi was already more than a century old. In 2146, assuming it lasts that long, Houshi will add the title of longest-lived family firm of all time to its list of honors. That should give survival-minded family business leaders the world over plenty of time to figure out what characteristics of these two companies allowed them to attain such remarkable longevity.

An adaptable company gets carried away

In the case of Kongo Gumi, the company benefited from the start by having what amounted to a royal dispensation to begin in business. It all started when Japanese Prince Shotoku invited Korean carpenter Shigemitsu Kongo to come to the island nation to construct the country’s first Buddhist temple. Kongo’s creation still stands, having been rebuilt a number of times over the centuries by the company Kongo started and passed down to his descendants—40 generations of them by the time it came to an end.

Kongo Gumi also benefited by serving a then-new industry—Japanese Buddhist temple construction—that has grown steadily and stably for the most part ever since. A key part of the company’s durability was undoubtedly that it existed not only for profit, but also for principle. Its legacy of specialized building techniques was passed down to succeeding generations of carpenters, each of whom was expected to treat the near-sacred subject with equivalent reverence.

What kept Kongo Gumi a family business was a set of flexible succession principles at odds with some prevailing Japanese practices. Chief among these were a willingness to pass the reins on to someone other than the eldest son, if that person had the makings of a better leader. This included females; the 37th Kongo to lead the company was the grandmother of the man who presided over its eventual liquidation and takeover by a much larger construction concern.

The circumstances that led to Kongo Gumi’s dissolution were, almost by definition, unusual. They were based on the astounding runup in Japanese real estate values during the 1980s, as well as the equally shocking collapse of the country’s land prices that followed in the 1990s. What seemed reasonable adventures into real estate speculation thus led to $343 million in debt, which proved unsustainable as Kongo Gumi’s temple-building business, affected by a secularization trend in Japanese culture, also declined significantly.

The public company that now runs Kongo Gumi as a wholly owned subsidiary, Takamatsu Construction, has brought it back into the black with the help of tight cost controls and a modest rebound in Japanese temple building and maintenance. The current president, a Takamatsu employee with no connection to the Kongo family, identified reliance on overly expensive longtime suppliers and excessive executive perks as problems he has dealt with as part of his turnaround.

Prizing heritage over glitz

So much for Kongo Gumi. What about Houshi? In this case, the company’s founding inspiration was not just royal —it was divine. According to legend, a famous monk was directed by a god to the location of a hot spring with healing powers. The monk told a disciple to build and run a spa at the site. The 46th generation of descendants of that disciple does so today.

Unlike Kongo Gumi, which built temples and other buildings across a wide swathe of Japan, Houshi has a single location. The jewel-like setting of the spa has been preserved by very limited expansion over the centuries. To say that the company has been run without much regard for monetizing its well-regarded name is like saying that the moon’s tourist potential is untested. Although it’s a profit-making business, Houshi is operated as a trust that is nearly holy in its nature.

While this approach may seem odd to Western observers, it’s more in tune with Japanese business practice. Japanese business leaders are, in fact, still trying to get their arms around Western-style management with its emphasis on building shareholder value. Specific techniques such as laying off employees in order to boost short-term profits are very much at odds with the Japanese style of management, which considers harmony a goal approximately as important as profit.

In fact, the similarities between Houshi Onsen and Kongo Gumi are more striking than the differences. And they are shared by many other Japanese companies. Japan is perhaps the world’s most amenable society for long-lived family business. As many as 100,000 Japanese businesses are more than 100 years old, and nearly 100 are more than 600 years old, according to some estimates.

Struck by these figures, a group of Japanese academics is studying several hundred Japanese firms that have been around for 300 years or more. While the research is not complete, early indications are that common characteristics of these Methuselahs are that they base their businesses on principles, impart these principles to employees and others with mottoes and slogans, and emphasize trusting relationships with their clients.

Given the complexity and challenge inherent in keeping nearly any business open for even another day, let alone a millennium or more, these benchmarks seem almost ludicrously simplistic. How is a catchphrase going to promote a new location or push through a price hike? Maybe it won’t, and maybe that’s the point.

The world’s most expensive hotel room is said to be the Ty Warner Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, which rents for $30,000 a night and includes a private chef on round-the-clock call, a waterfall in the bedroom, and a 700-square-foot-library. On the other hand, a room at Houshi Onsen, where the glitz is considerably reduced but the heritage goes back 1,289 years, is less than $200.

James Olan Hutcheson (jim@regeneration-partners.com) is a principal at ReGENERATION Partners, a consulting firm devoted exclusively to assisting family enterprises.

For further reading

• “Traditional Values Stand Test of Time,” by Yuki Senda, Yomiuri Shimbun, May 19, 2007.

• Houshi Onsen website: www.ho-shi.co.jp/jiten/Houshi_E/history.htm

The World’s Oldest Family Companies    UPDATED - August 2008 * denotes new listing Editor’s Note: This list is based on the best information available to us. Family Business is seeking information on venerable family companies, from Japan and elsewhere, that we inadvertently omitted from our list. Please contact Barbara Spector, Editor-in-Chief, at bspector@familybusinessmagazine.com. Click here for information on companies inadvertently omitted from our list. 1. Houshi Onsen Innkeeping/Komatsu, Japan Founded: 718 www.ho-shi.co.jp/jiten/Houshi_E According to legend, the god of Mount Hakusan visited a Buddhist priest and told him to uncover an underground hot spring in a nearby village. He found the hot spring and asked his disciple, a woodcutter’s son named Gengoro Sasakiri, to build and operate a spa on the site. His family has run a hotel in Komatsu ever since. The structure houses 450 people in 100 rooms. For generations, Houshi proprietors have borne the name Zengoro Houshi. The first Zengoro was Garyo Houshi, the second son of Gengoro Sasakiri. The current proprietor is the 46th Zengoro. 2. (tie) Château de Goulaine Vineyard, museum, butterfly collection/Haute Goulaine, France Founded: 1000 http://chateau.goulaine.online.fr The castle, owned by the Goulaine family, houses a museum and rare butterfly collection. The family hosts functions and sells wine from the castle vineyards. 2. (tie) Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli Bell foundry/Agnone, Italy Founded: c. 1000 www.campanemarinelli.com Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli is a bell foundry in the small central Italian town of Agnone, high in the Appenine hills. The company still uses its founders’ original wax techniques (a wax “false bell” is overlaid with the real thing). The firm has 20 employees, including five members of the founding Marinelli family. Marinelli bells toll in New York, Beijing, Jerusalem, South America and Korea, among other locations. Pasquale Marinelli is the current managing director. A museum, opened in 1997, features the work of Pasquale’s brother, sculptor Ettore Marinelli. On Nov. 2, 2005, the Marinelli brothers presented a bell to Pope Benedict. 4. Barone Ricasoli Wine, olive oil/Siena, Italy Founded: 1141 www.ricasoli.it The Ricasoli barons were given their first land from the Republic of Florence; today their Brolio Estate covers about 3,600 acres. The family’s main focus is wine production, although they use 26 acres of the estate to cultivate olives. Francesco Ricasoli, the 32nd Baron of Barone, manages the company. 5. Barovier & Toso Glass/Murano, Italy Founded: c. 1295 www.barovier.com The Barovier family produces crystalline glass, mother-of-pearl glass and gold-free cornelian red on Murano Island, about a ten-minute ferry ride from Venice. Angelo Barovier (1405-1460) discovered “Venetian crystal.” In 1936, the Baroviers merged with the Tosos, another Murano Island family of glassmakers. The works of former company president Ercole Barovier (1889-1974) are on exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris and the Corning Museum in New York. Giovanni Toso is the current president; Iacopo Barovier is chief executive. 6. Hotel Pilgrim Haus Innkeeping/Soest, Germany Founded: 1304 www.pilgrimhaus.de The Andernach family operates Hotel Pilgrim Haus in the town of Soest, about 110 miles north of Frankfurt. The inn is dedicated to St. Jacob, the patron saint of travelers. On July 25, “Jacob’s Day,” guests are given a glass of centenary schnapps. 7. Richard de Bas Paper/Ambert d’Auvergne, France Founded: 1326 www.richarddebas.fr Richard de Bas has a longstanding reputation for high-quality, handmade paper. The company produces only 200 to 300 sheets per day. High-profile jobs include supplying paper for limited-edition works by Braque and Picasso. The company also operates a museum. 8. Torrini Firenze Goldsmith/Florence, Italy Founded: 1369 www.torrini.com Jacopus Torrini moved to Florence from his native village of Scarperia to forge armor for Florentine knights. Later, he became a goldsmith, creating jewels and other precious objects. Perhaps the family’s most valued possession is its secretive and exclusive “Oro Nativo” manufacturing process, a method of working with gold while retaining its most natural color. 9. Marchesi Antinori Srl Wine/Florence, Italy Founded: 1385 www.antinori.it The Antinori family has been in the wine business since Giovanni di Piero Antinori joined the Florentine Guild of Vintners more than 600 years ago. Marchese (Count) Piero Antinori and his three daughters, Albiera, Allegra and Alessia, oversee a system of vineyards in Italy, the U.S., Hungary, Malta and Chile that continue to be recognized by consumers and wine critics for their superior-quality Chiantis and other vintages. Antinori sold 49% to British beer brewer Whitbred in 1983 and, later, bought it back. The company has been housed in a Florentine palazzo since 1506. 10. Camuffo Shipbuilding/Portogruaro, Italy Founded: 1438 The business was founded in Khanià, a Venetian port on the island of Crete, by El Ham Muftì, a man locals called “Camuffi.” The family has supplied boats to Mohammed the Second, the Venetian Republic, Napoleon and the Royal Italian navies. Experts refer to a Camuffo boat as “the Stradivarius of the sea.” 11. Baronnie de Coussergues Wine/Montblanc, France Founded: 1494 www.henokiens.com/index_baronnie_gb.php Pierre Raymond de Sarret bought the estate known as Coussergues for 440 pounds when King Charles VIII began selling royal property in France to pay off some of his expenses. Today, the vineyard produces a wide variety of wines, including Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs, Viogniers, Cabernet Francs, Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons. The Sarret family sells 1.5 million bottles a year and has won numerous gold medals for its wines. 12. Grazia Deruta Ceramics/Turin, Italy Founded: 1500 www.ubaldograzia.it Grazia Deruta produces majolica, a special type of ceramic that predates the 13th century. Current CEO Ubaldo Grazia has expanded the company’s business into the U.S. market, created three exclusive designs for Henri Bendel and worked for major department stores and labels such as Neiman-Marcus, Williams Sonoma and Tiffany. 13. Fabbrica D’Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A. Firearms/Gardone, Italy Founded: 1526 www.beretta.it Ugo Gussalli Beretta is the company’s current president. His sons, Pietro and Franco, members of the 15th generation, help run the business. The world-class gun-maker makes the weapon of choice of law-enforcement agencies around the world, such as the Italian Carabinieri, French Gendarmes and Texas Rangers. The company has also earned distinction for its line of hunting weapons. Ugo’s grandfather Pietro Berretta, who was in charge of the dynasty through most of the 20th century, owned 100% of the company. His sons, Carlo and Giuseppe, both held the title of managing director. Since neither had any children, their sister’s son Ugo was the only potential successor; to keep the succession in a direct line, Carlo adopted Ugo (pictured). 14. William Prym GmbH & Co. Copper, brass, haberdashery/Stolberg, Germany Founded: 1530 www.prym.com Goldsmith Wilhelm Prym started a brass and copper manufacturing business in Aachen in 1530. In 1642, the Protestant Prym family lost its guild rights in the Catholic city of Aachen and moved to Stolberg. In the 19th century, Prym developed the first machines to produce finished brass, iron and steel products. Later, the company manufactured the first metal haberdashery products made mechanically. Today the Prym Group has three divisions: Prym Consumer (sewing products, needlework, fashion accessories), Prym Fashion (fastening for clothes and textiles) and INOVAN (material and surface technology, microfine pressing technology, fasteners and precision mechanical parts). Michael Prym (born in 1943) and Axel Prym (born in 1950) were members of the executive board until 2005. Several family members on the company’s advisory board ensure continuation of the family tradition. 15. John Brooke & Sons Woolens/Huddersfield, United Kingdom Founded: 1541 www.brookesmill.co.uk The company, founded by John Brooke, has provided fabrics for British troops (Battle of Trafalgar, World War II), French troops and Russian military personnel. In the 19th century it had 220 looms and 900 employees, down to 280 by 1969. Today it’s headed by Mark Brooke. Mark has abandoned manufacturing to create an entrepreneurial development park in the firm’s old mill buildings. * 16. Touwfabriek G. van der Lee B.V. Rope factory/Oudewater, Netherlands Founded: 1545 www.touwfabriekvanderlee.nl The company manufacturers a complete range of rope sizes, from 4 mm diameter to extremely heavy sizes for the shipping industry and other uses. Family members Saskia van der Lee and Gijsbert van der Lee, along with their cousin Willem Hendrik Scheijgrond were named company commissioners in 1984. 17. Codorníu Wine/Saint Sadurní d’Anoia, Spain Founded: 1551 www.codorniu.com Jaime Codorníu acquired the company in 1551, beginning centuries of family ownership. In 1659 Anna, Codorníu’s eldest daughter and the last to carry the Codorníu name, married Miquel Raventós. Manuel Raventós took over the family business in 1885 and decided that the company should devote itself exclusively to production of sparkling wine (cava). In 1976 King Juan Carlos I declared the Codorníu estate a national historic and artistic monument. Codorníu produces 60 million bottles of wine and attracts 200,000 tourists per year. Seventeenth-generation family member Xavier Pagés was named general manager of the Codorníu Group in 2005. 18. Fonjallaz Wine/Lavaux, Switzerland Founded: 1552 www.fonjallaz.info Pierre Fonjallaz began the family business when he “devoted himself to the growing of the vine,” as the label on a bottle of Fonjallaz wine will tell you. The company is now headed by Patrick Fonjallaz. 19. Freiherr von Poschinger Glasmanufaktur Glasmaking/Frauenau, Bavaria, Germany Founded: 1568 www.poschinger.de The company was founded in 1568 when Joachim Poschinger took ownership of a glassmaking shop manufacturer near Frauenau, close to the Czech border. Today, though glassmaking is still the focal point of family business affairs, the business also encompasses farming and forestry. 20. Hacienda Los Lingues Wine, hotel/San Fernando, Chile Founded: c. 1575 www.loslingues.com By royal decree, Spanish King Felipe II granted the Angostura Estate to Don Melchor Jufré del Aguila for merit in the arts of war and fine writing. Now the estate is a hotel and vineyard. Wine Enthusiast magazine named Hacienda Los Lingues the best wine valley in the world. The company has a strategic agreement with Viña Los Vascos (Domaines Barons de Rothschild [Lafite]) under which Viña Los Vascos produces, bottles and labels a selection of five wines under the trademarks Hacienda Los Lingues and Los Lingues. It’s also the home of one of the most prestigious horse stables in the Americas: the Aculeo Stable, which features horses brought first to Spain by the Moors in 711 and later to the New World by the Spanish Conquistadors. Family member Germán Claro Lira is the general manager. 21. Berenberg Bank Banking/Hamburg, Germany Founded: 1590 www.berenberg.de Hans and Paul II Berenberg founded the company as a cloth trading and general import and export business. In the late 1700s, the family expanded the business to include shipping and insurance. Berenberg developed into a banking house in the mid-1800s. In 1932, the family withdrew the business from active banking. The company survived the Nazi era as a holding company by consolidating shareholdings with two smaller private banks primarily engaged in the asset management business. After World War II, the family again began active banking. Now one of the few remaining independently owned private banks in Germany, Berenberg Bank manages more than 14 billion euros. 22. R. Durtnell & Sons Construction/Kent, United Kingdom Founded: 1591 www.durtnell.co.uk Founder John Durtnell and his brother Brian built their first house in 1593; it’s still occupied today. The company’s past projects include the Royal Military Academy, Chartwell House (Winston Churchill’s home) and Buckingham Palace. The latest Durtnell to join the firm is Alexander, son of current chairman John Durtnell. * 23. Royal Tichelaar Earthenware, tile/Makkum, Netherlands Founded: 1594 www.tichelaar.nl The company changed its core business from brickmaking to pottery in 1670. The current managing director, Jan Tichelaar, represents the 13th generation at the helm of the company. Under his leadership, the company evolved from making pottery exclusively into handcrafted high-quality custom products. Services include architecture, design and restoration. 24. Eduard Meier Shoes/Munich, Germany Founded: 1596 www.edmeier.de Founder Hans Myer stored wooden models of customers’ feet, enabling them to order custom shoes by mail. In the early 1900s, the company offered ready-made shoes for the first time. Today, Eduard Meier continues to specialize in handmade shoes but has expanded to a product line of 4,500 items. Peter Eduard Meier and his sister Brigitte run the company. 25. Toraya Confectioners/Tokyo, Japan Founded: pre-1600 www.toraya-group.co.jp Japan’s oldest traditional confectionery has been making the sweet delicacy known as wagashi since Enchu Kurokawa founded the company in Kyoto. In the 17th and 18th centuries, after his son Kichiemon Kurokawa cultivated relationships with Japan’s nobility, the firm became purveyor to Japan’s Imperial Court. Toraya moved to Tokyo in 1879 and opened its first branch retail outlet in 1962. Today, under Mitsuhiro Kurokawa, a former banker, the firm operates more than 70 shops with annual revenue of about $150 million. NEXT PAGE World’s Oldest Companies Listed by Country     Companies Removed since 2004