FBN - Family Business Network

The Family Business Network is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1989 at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, dedicated to the continuity, development, and positive impact of family businesses across generations. FBN operates through a global network of national chapters across more than sixty countries, connecting family business leaders, NextGen members, and spouses through peer learning, research, and advocacy. Its annual World Summit is one of the most significant gatherings in the global family enterprise ecosystem.

FBN's programming spans the full lifecycle of family business governance — from succession planning and family constitution development to NextGen leadership development and the integration of purpose and values into business strategy. Its research partnerships with IMD and other academic institutions produce some of the most rigorous available data on the governance, performance, and challenges of family enterprises worldwide.

FBN occupies a central position in the global family enterprise ecosystem as the primary convening organization for families who understand their business as a multigenerational project rather than a financial asset to be optimized. Its membership includes some of the world's oldest and most significant family enterprises — institutions that have navigated multiple generations of transition and carry within their governance structures lessons that no business school curriculum has fully captured. For the transition, FBN matters because family enterprises represent a disproportionate share of global economic activity, employment, and long-horizon capital — and because the governance culture cultivated within FBN directly shapes how that capital and those institutions evolve.