- The Story of William and his Children
- “Around the room, the advisors to affluent families exchange knowing glances. They’ve seen the eighteen-year-old get a million dollars cash, no strings attached, under the terms of granddad’s will. Followed immediately by the hot car, the cocaine, the parties, and finally rehab, jail, or even suicide. They’ve seen marriages break up, friendships devastated, and family members alienated from each other. They’ve watched the companies that grandparents and parents sweated and sacrificed for decades to build go under, as heirs eager to squeeze more cash from the estate broke them up, sold them at bargain prices, or lost them through mismanagement.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 26
- “The collapse of wealth over several generations is not news to your financial or legal advisors. It wasn’t news two thousand years ago when a Chinese scholar penned the adage: “fubuguo san dai,” or “Wealth never survives three generations.” Or in the thirteenth century England, where the proverb, “Clogs to clogs in three generations,” had morphed by the 1600s to “Rags to riches to rags.” In nineteenth-century America, where fortunes were made and lost with astounding speed amidst the goldfields, oil wells, copper mines, and railroad booms, people said “From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 26-27
- “Why Succession Plans Fail: 1. Sixty percent of succession plans failed because of family dynamics. 2. Twenty-five percent failed because heirs were insufficiently prepared. 3. Ten percent failed because of inadequate estate planning or inadequate liquidity to pay estate taxes.” Correlates of Success in Family Business Transitions, Journal of Business Venturing 12, 285-301 (1997)
- “There are compelling arguments for having prenuptial arrangements for a member of a family for who a business is important. The company is a family asset and ongoing enterprise that may have been in place for a number of generations, and many families want to see the business continue to grow for many additional generations.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 114