The NextGen of entrepreneurial families no longer joins the company right away. And that may be good news
In large cities and provincial towns alike, the script for the firstborn child of an entrepreneurial family remained the same for decades: studies, entry into the family business and, sooner or later, a handover. Today, that model is changing rapidly, driven by shifts in markets, technologies and the expectations of young people. In this way, the very meaning of entrepreneurial legacy is changing.
Increasingly, the children of entrepreneurs are choosing not to join the family business immediately. They prefer to work elsewhere, gain experience in a corporation, study abroad, launch a startup or build something of their own. Only after five or ten years, possibly, do they consider returning to the family business.
This change in preferences comes at a time of major evolution in leadership models. According to the AUB Observatory, family businesses involved in a generational transition have increased rapidly: from about 100 a year in the 2000s to about 200 in the 2020-2024 period, with an estimated 400 a year in the 2025-2034 decade. This is enormous pressure, forcing companies to rethink succession and the way leadership is built.
In the past, generational transition was thought to be mainly a matter of continuity: transferring shares, roles and responsibilities from the senior generation to the next. Today, many young people first want to become credible as professionals, managers or independent entrepreneurs. In many family businesses, this expectation is now explicit. Before applying for a leadership role, one must gain outside experience, earn an MBA, work in international settings or prove the ability to create value beyond the family perimeter. It is an important signal: belonging to the family is no longer enough to legitimize a top position.
On the one hand, this evolution strengthens meritocracy. On the other, however, it creates new tensions. Italy is a country of mature family businesses, often undergoing their second, third or fourth succession. And the pool of available heirs is shrinking: families are smaller, career paths are more fragmented and many young people simply discover that they prefer other routes.
The result is that generational transition is becoming less linear and more uncertain, but it would be wrong to read this phenomenon as a definitive crisis of family continuity. In reality, precisely this initial distance can become a strategic resource. Companies led by younger leaders tend to be more open to experimentation, growth and innovation. And those who return after external experiences of this kind bring new skills, networks, technological awareness and a different managerial culture. It is no coincidence that programs dedicated to the “next generation” in business schools are growing rapidly. In some international programs focused on strategy and entrepreneurship, between 30% and 50% of participants come from entrepreneurial families. Yet only about half envision directly joining the family business. The others prefer first to build an independent path and, possibly, return later.
The first motivation is the search for autonomy: the desire to build something perceived as truly one’s own. The second is the need for validation: to prove to themselves, and often to others as well, that they can succeed without relying exclusively on their surname or family wealth.
There is also another decisive factor. New technologies have drastically lowered the costs of entrepreneurial experimentation. Today, launching a project requires much less initial capital than in the past, making it easier for young people to try an independent path before deciding whether or not to return to the family business.
For those who decide to stay, the way of being in the family company has changed. Many young people do not aspire to immediate succession. They prefer to lead innovative projects, develop new business lines or work on initiatives related to artificial intelligence, biotech, sustainability or corporate venture capital. They look for spaces of “intrapreneurship”: roles that allow them to innovate and take on entrepreneurial responsibilities without automatically replicating their parents’ path. New generations do not want merely to preserve a legacy; they want to reinterpret it.
Naturally, the path remains complex. For many young people, joining the family business also comes with a heavy psychological burden. Managing a company built over decades means dealing with high expectations, imposing role models and fears of not being up to the task. This is why gradual succession models are working increasingly well. Senior and junior generations working side by side for several years make it possible to transfer skills, build internal legitimacy and accompany the leadership transition without trauma. It is a process of mentorship and trust-building.
One final transition model, which our recent research analyzed in Japan, is that of the “placeholder CEO,” a chief executive chosen from within the company but outside the family who holds the top position until the natural heir is ready to take on the responsibility.
Persuading young people to stay in the company “as it was done in the past” is an endeavor with little chance of success. The task, then, will be to create the conditions that make them want to return, bringing something new with them.
The issue of succession is the focus of the training program Nextgen e innovazione per le imprese familiari. Sviluppare competenze e motivazione per il futuro delle imprese familiari (in Italian), and it is one of the topics of the Master in imprenditorialità e strategia aziendale (MISA) (in Italian), directed by Mario Daniele Amore.
