Episodes

  • How the Beretta Family Built a 500-Year Gun Empire

    How the Beretta Family Built a 500-Year Gun Empire
    Jul 1 2026
    In this episode of Family Business Stories, Lucas and Luna explore how the Beretta family has kept their gun-making business alive for nearly 500 years — making them one of the world's oldest continuously operating family enterprises. They trace the company's founding in 1526 in a small Italian village, its survival through wars and industrial revolutions, and the key decisions that allowed each generation to pass control intact. Specific focus on the family's governance structure — particularly how they avoided the 'third-generation curse' by training heirs outside the business and using a family constitution. Also discussed: how Beretta balanced tradition with modern manufacturing, and the role of diversification into clothing and accessories. A look at what other family firms can learn from an empire that started making arquebus barrels and now supplies NATO. #Beretta #FamilyBusiness #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ItalianBusiness #GunIndustry #Succession #Legacy #FamilyGovernance #Manufacturing #GenerationalWealth #PrivateCompany #1526 #Longevity #Firearms #Heritage #EuropeanIndustry Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    10 mins
  • How the Michelin Family Reinvented the Tire and the Restaurant Guide

    How the Michelin Family Reinvented the Tire and the Restaurant Guide
    Jul 1 2026
    In this episode of Family Business Stories with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how the Michelin brothers turned a small rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand into a global tire empire — and why they created a restaurant guide that became the gold standard for fine dining. They dive into the pivotal innovations that saved the company in the early 20th century, including the detachable tire and the iconic Michelin Man. They also reveal how the Michelin Guide was originally a marketing ploy to encourage people to drive more, and how it evolved into a culinary institution. Lucas explains why a family-run company like Michelin could make long-term bets that public companies often can't, and Luna questions whether the current 'democratization' of restaurant reviews threatens the Guide's authority. The hosts also touch on a critical moment during World War II that tested the family's resilience. Tune in for a rich story of innovation, brand-building, and family-led endurance. #Michelin #FamilyBusiness #BusinessHistory #Innovation #MichelinGuide #TireIndustry #BrandBuilding #LongTermThinking #ClermontFerrand #FrenchIndustry #RestaurantGuide #MichelinMan #Bibendum #IndustrialHistory #Business #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    11 mins
  • How the Peugeot Family Saved Their Car Company From Collapse

    How the Peugeot Family Saved Their Car Company From Collapse
    Jul 1 2026
    In 2014, PSA Peugeot Citroën was hours from bankruptcy. The founding family, which had controlled the company since 1810, was diluted to just over 14% ownership after a bailout from the French state and Chinese automaker Dongfeng. Yet the Peugeot family didn't disappear. They rebuilt their stake, retained a board seat, and watched their revived company merge with Fiat-Chrysler to form Stellantis — now the world's fourth-largest automaker. This episode traces how the Peugeot cousins held on through near-total loss of control, why they accepted dilution rather than selling out, and what their decision says about family pride versus financial logic. We also look at a different path: the Ford family, which kept control through special shares, and ask whether the Peugeot approach — stay in the game, even as a minority — can ever work again in capital-intensive industries. #PeugeotFamily #FamilyBusiness #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Stellantis #PSAPeugeotCitroen #Dongfeng #FrenchIndustry #Automotive #FoundingFamily #Succession #Legacy #CorporateGovernance #OwnershipStructure #Bailout #FordFamily #MultiGenerational Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 mins
  • How the Hennessy Family Kept a Cognac Empire in the Family

    How the Hennessy Family Kept a Cognac Empire in the Family
    Jun 30 2026
    Episode 84 of Family Business Stories with Fexingo examines how the Hennessy family held together one of the world's oldest and most valuable cognac dynasties through 250 years of revolutions, world wars, and corporate consolidation. Lucas and Luna trace the family's survival from the 1765 founding by Richard Hennessy, through the deal that created LVMH in 1987, to today's delicate balance between family ownership and luxury group control. Key numbers: the family's roughly 25 percent economic stake in Moët Hennessy (LVMH's wines and spirits arm), the 300 million euro dividend paid annually, and the seven generations of family leadership. The episode explores how the family used a holding company, strict share-transfer rules, and a non-family CEO structure to prevent the infighting that destroyed other family empires like Gucci and Wedgwood. #Hennessy #Cognac #FamilyBusiness #Succession #LVMH #Luxury #MoetHennessy #RichardHennessy #WinesAndSpirits #Fexingo #BusinessPodcast #Legacy #MultiGenerational #FrenchBusiness #CorporateGovernance #FamilyOffice #HoldingCompany #Dividend Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    11 mins
  • How the Arnault Family Built Luxury Giant LVMH

    How the Arnault Family Built Luxury Giant LVMH
    Jun 30 2026
    How did Bernard Arnault and his family assemble the world's largest luxury conglomerate, LVMH, from a struggling textile company? This episode traces the key acquisitions — from Christian Dior to Louis Vuitton to Hennessy — and the family governance structure that kept control in the Arnault family through holding companies and dual-class shares. We look at the 2022-2023 luxury slowdown and whether the family's dominance can survive the next generation's competition. Luca and Luna discuss the cost of the family office model and what other business families can learn from the Arnault playbook. #LVMH #ArnaultFamily #BernardArnault #LuxuryGoods #FamilyBusiness #SuccessionPlanning #BusinessStrategy #EuropeanBusiness #FashionIndustry #Cognac #LouisVuitton #ChristianDior #Hennessy #HoldingCompany #DualClassShares #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #FamilyOffice Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • How the Richest Family in Korea Built Samsung

    How the Richest Family in Korea Built Samsung
    Jun 29 2026
    Ep 82 of Family Business Stories with Fexingo unpacks how the Lee family turned Samsung from a small trading company in 1938 into the world's largest conglomerate by revenue. We focus on one pivotal moment: the 1987 succession from founder Lee Byung-chul to his son Lee Kun-hee, and the brutal management overhaul that followed. Lee Kun-hee's 'Second Foundation' speech in 1993—where he told executives 'change everything except your wife and children'—restructured the entire chaebol, killing failing businesses like car manufacturing and betting everything on semiconductors. We also trace how the current chairman, Lee Jae-yong, navigated a 2017 corruption scandal and a 2021 pardon to hold onto control. Plus, the strict inheritance taxes (up to 50% in Korea) forced the family to use complex stock swaps and foundations to preserve ownership. A masterclass in how one family kept power across three generations in the most competitive economy on earth. #Samsung #LeeFamily #KoreanChaebol #FamilyBusiness #Succession #LeeByungChul #LeeKunHee #LeeJaeYong #Semiconductors #SecondFoundation #InheritanceTax #CorporateGovernance #Seoul #Business #Finance #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FamilyDynasty Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    14 mins
  • How the Mars Family Built a Candy Empire With Total Privacy

    How the Mars Family Built a Candy Empire With Total Privacy
    Jun 29 2026
    Episode 81 of Family Business Stories with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna dig into Mars Inc., one of the largest private companies in the world, run by the Mars family for over a century. They explore how three generations — from Frank Mars making candy in his kitchen to Forrest Mars Sr. expanding globally, to John, Forrest Jr., and Jacqueline in the 1980s and 1990s — kept the business private, secretive, and enormously profitable. Topics include the family's strict no-interview policy, the 1988 'Mars Plan' that restructured the company, the near-breakup in the 1990s, and how the family balanced ownership and management over five generations. The hosts also touch on how the Mars family's privacy contrasts with other family business dynasties like Ferrero and Cargill. Perfect for listeners interested in succession, family governance, and the trade-offs of staying private. #MarsFamily #MarsInc #FamilyBusiness #PrivateCompany #Succession #CandyEmpire #BusinessHistory #Privacy #FamilyGovernance #ForrestMars #FrankMars #MAndM #Snickers #PetCare #Wrigley #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #Entrepreneurship Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins
  • How the Burberry Family Lost a British Fashion Icon

    How the Burberry Family Lost a British Fashion Icon
    Jun 28 2026
    Episode 80 of Family Business Stories with Fexingo: How the Burberry family built a 150-year-old British luxury house, then lost control during the 1990s expansion. Lucas and Luna walk through the generational decisions that diluted the family's stake—from the iconic trench coat to the check pattern overexposure, and the bitter takeover battle that ended family control. Specific numbers include the 1955 IPO that sold 30% of the company, the 1998 rights issue that pushed the family below 10%, and the near-collapse in 2020 before a private equity rescue. A cautionary tale about preserving identity while scaling. #Burberry #FamilyBusiness #Succession #LuxuryFashion #BritishHeritage #TrenchCoat #CheckPattern #RoseMarieBravo #ChristopherBailey #IPO #RightsIssue #PrivateEquity #BrandDilution #HeritageBrands #BusinessHistory #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FamilyStories Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 mins