Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses Paperback – September 25, 2007

Why are people downvoting this book because it doesn’t go into the details of how these dynasties were built?The object of his work here was spoken of on the very first page“This is a book about family and business, success and disappointment, love and discord. My interest in dynasties began with economic history- the review and analysis of economic trends and the deeds and achievements of economic actors. As a historian I was quickly drawn into the drama of these stories and the larger than life quality of many of these competitors for wealth”or as Publishers Weekly put it“Landes's stories emphasize emotional life within these dynasties; he includes business details and general economic history only as context for family adventures and feuds. His emphasis is on how family considerations such as authority, love, trust, envy, marriage, adoption and succession determine the growth and direction of the business.”It’s obvious his goal wasn’t to write a “how-to” for building a dynasty, but rather, an economic drama focused on them instead.And that’s what makes this read all the more interesting!

This book details 13 dynastic businesses. It is divided into three sections, which cover; banking, automobiles, and raw materials (oil, mining, refining and metals production). Each section is divided into chapters covering a different dynasty or in the case of French automobile manufactures, three dynasties. British, European, American and one Japanese company are profiled.Professor Landes defines a dynasty as "... a succession of at least three generations of a family business, marked by continuity of identity and interest." The book consists mostly of short biographies of these dynasties, with some common themes, namely; the advantages and disadvantages of a dynastic business compared to a publicly owned company, and the extent to which the families have remained in control of the businesses versus having to turn control over to outside experts. The chief advantages of a dynastic business are in the passion that successors may bring to the management of the business, the support that the various heirs may give to one another, and the prominence of a family name that can connote quality and stability. When this passion, support, and good family name exist, the dynasty can thrive, but when absent the business gets into trouble. The story of almost all of the dynasties that are discussed is one of an eventual loss of family control, either through a lack of interest or poor family management. Outsiders bring in talents that the family does not possess, but they also tend to lack the passion for the company as an entity, as opposed to just being a vehicle that can enrich the outside manager. Professor Landes also makes the case that dynastic firms can be a very good choice for developing countries if they are committed to their country as well as to the business. In contrast, multinational firms are generally interested in repatriating profits and not in building up the local economy, unless that can also reap profits that can be returned to the parent company.The writing is interesting and entertaining and I liked this book, but with some reservations. I had the feeling, supported by the concluding chapter that refers to a few events that are not covered in the book, that the initial draft of the book was longer, but that the book was reduced to a more saleable size. This view was also supported by the omission of a few important and widely known events that are not mentioned in the book. For instance, there is no mention of the aborted Edsel division of the Ford motor company. The attempt, in the late 1950's, to honor Henry Ford's son and the father of the then current chairman Henry Ford II, was a dismal failure for a variety of reasons. The surprising thing is that it is not mentioned in the book, in spite of its intimate involvement with the Ford dynasty. Another surprising omission is that of the breakup of Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.I recommend this book to those interested in biography, business and economic history.

Not as well written as I would have thought. The internet has better info

My expectations were high, Given the magisterial reputation of the author, Not to be. The writing is sophomoric and often glib; the history often shallow and pedestrian; and the analysis, especially in helping us readers understand how the "dynasties" such as the Rothschild's accumulated their fortunes, weak and superficial. All very disappointing. I gave up after a couple of chapters.

Learning from the past is always necessary to not commit the same mistakes; Landes describes it well in the pages of this book the history of successes and failures of the greatest families of the last centuries. For those who love business, exonomics, and history it is a delightful reading.

A well written and interesting book for any fortunate enough to be facing a financial legacy...or dealing with newly created wealth. As for those who inherit it, you may be too full of yourselves to gain any insight from this or any book. The histories may or may not be familiar to you, yet you will gain terrific insight into general wealth.

Not enough on the family dynamics, and little on the succession planning. Too much on the management history.

It was quite interesting learning about how these dynasties that we all have heard of were formed and evolved through the years. Family-owned businesses will continue to drive today's world economy and is important to understand what drives them.