A New Framework for the Family Business Enterprise: A Review of Benjamin Means’ “The Principles of Family Business Law”

Family-owned businesses are vital to the economy and I dare say the American way of life. According to a recent estimate, around 90% of all business firms in the U.S. are family owned, numbering over 30 million and generating 54% of U.S. gross domestic product and 59% of U.S. employment. While some of the largest are family controlled, publicly traded firms, e.g., the New York Times (the Sulzbergers), Fox (the Murdochs), and Walmart (the Waltons), the vast majority are small, privately held... By: Farrell Fritz, P.C.