PwC Asks What Family Firms Want to Pass On

PwC has published a new analysis on family business legacy, asking a question that sounds soft but carries hard money consequences: what do today's leaders actually want to hand to the next generation?

The report's framing shifts attention away from balance sheets. Its title — "Family Business Legacy Insights: What Today's Leaders Want to Pass to the Next Generation" — puts inheritance of values, culture and purpose on equal footing with ownership stakes and control structures.

That framing matters commercially. Family-controlled firms anchor a large share of private employment and GDP in most major economies, and succession failure remains one of the most common reasons these businesses don't survive a generational transition. PwC's own research track record has long tied longevity to how deliberately owners plan the handover — not just the legal transfer, but the intangibles.

What does the report actually focus on?

Based on the published material, the analysis centers on three connected themes:

• What leaders define as legacy — beyond equity and assets, extending to reputation, values and the founding story.
• The gap between generations — what current leaders assume the next generation wants versus what heirs themselves say they value.
• The transfer of purpose — how founders communicate why the business exists, so the successor generation doesn't inherit only the "what."

Each theme reflects a shift PwC has tracked across its family business survey work: succession planning that treats legacy as a designed asset, not an afterthought.

Why should non-family executives care?

Family firms employ millions and sit across global supply chains. When a handover goes badly, the damage spreads — to lenders, suppliers, employees and local economies. When it goes well, continuity of values often becomes a competitive edge: faster decisions, longer investment horizons, stronger stakeholder trust.

PwC's emphasis on the values side of the ledger also signals where advisory demand is heading. Firms advising on succession increasingly bundle governance, family charters and purpose-definition work alongside tax and deal structuring.

The takeaway is plain. PwC's latest legacy analysis argues that what a family business passes on is a design choice — and the leaders who treat values as deliberately as they treat valuation are the ones whose companies outlast them.

(This article is based on the report's published title and framing; Business Bearings will update with specific survey figures as PwC releases the full findings.)