Breaking the family business curse

Speakers at a forum set out a series of practical steps aimed at ensuring a successful succession strategy in the era of Al

- NUNTAWUN POLKUAMDEE

Executives discuss family business survival tips.

They build, they grow, then they fall. The familiar cycle of family businesses has echoed across continents for centuries. In Thailand, where family-run conglomerates dominate the economy, the question remains whether they can they break the third-generation curse?

During the third Family Business Forum 2025, hosted by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) under the theme “Transforming Family Business: Adapt to Survive, Change to Grow’ local and global panellists shared their insights as to why most family businesses crumble and how the next generation of Thai family businesses can rise stronger in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

There's an old saying: “The first generation builds it, the second expands it, and the third destroys it”

According to Matt Allen, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management and a second-generation business owner himself, family exposure creates entrepreneurial ambition, but without structure and communication, that same family dynamic becomes the cause of failure.

Research presented at the forum revealed that 75% of startups globally are family-founded. In Thailand, the figure is potentially 99.7%, one of the world’s highest. Yet fewer than half survive to the third generation.

The problem is rarely financial, but rather blurred boundaries between family and business — role confusion, rivalry and resistance to change. Founders tend to value sacrifice and control, while successors prioritise technology, well-being and innovation. Without structure, these differences often turn from potential into conflict, according to analysts.

The speakers pointed to three recurring issues, with the first overlapping roles when family members serve simultaneously as owners, managers and decision-makers.