Post by IMD

An important day in the lead-up to the birth of IMD Global Family Business Center: SwissInfo headline: Speculation and media buzz mark Buffett tour When Warren Buffet visited #Switzerland on May 20, 2008, there was a great deal of speculation as to the goal of his trip. In actual fact, he was attending the 20th anniversary of Family Business Research and Education at IMD, which he marked with an open, engaging discussion. Buffett had very good reasons to accept IMD’s invitation. Family businesses include some of the most significant, innovative, long-lasting and valuable enterprises in the world. They include businesses that lead their sectors such as retailer Walmart, automotive giants Volkswagen AG and BMW Group, investors, holding companies and trading firms as diverse as Berkshire Hathaway, Koch Industries, Exor, Softbank, Tata Group and Reliance Industries Limited, tech pioneers Dell Technologies and Oracle and businesses as varied as the LEGO Group (toys), Roche (pharmaceuticals), IKEA (retail and design), ArcelorMittal (steel and mining), Tetra Pak (manufacturing), L'Oréal (cosmetics), Samsung Electronics, LVMH (luxury goods), and many others. Estimates vary, but worldwide family businesses account for at least two thirds of all commercial enterprises Their significance was recognized by IMD with the ground-breaking program Leading a Family Business established in 1988, the launch of the IMD Global Family Business Award in 1996, and the establishment of the IMD Global Family Business Center in 2011, now widely seen as the world’s leading center of excellence. Learn more in our upcoming book IMD 75 years: https://bit.ly/2ZYM3et #IMDImpact #IMD75