Control of vast business empires is passing to a new generation, forcing families to confront the hard questions around succession planning. Of the 200 richest Australians, 45 are over 80 and control $136.1 billion.
Succession is not something 82-year-old Rich Lister Max Beck ever gave much thought to. But there is one belief the retired property developer has always held; “siblings in business rarely work”. This, he suggests, should be the headline for this article, when he agrees to an interview withThe great wealth transfer under way in Australia is putting succession planning in the spotlight. In the past year, five members of the Rich List have died.
Today, Beck’s son Sam, 54, is continuing the family legacy in property development but under his own business, Beck Property. He has, however, adopted his Dad’s motto of “the Beck family don’t build shit”. Beck’s three other children, Ben, Nick and Carla, have other interests, spanning infrastructure, farming and ceramics, although Ben has also founded a development company with his father, Beckdev. Essendon Fields, Beck hopes, stays in the family for many years. Otherwise, he’s content for his children to run their own races..
Deloitte partner and family enterprise lead Elise Elliott says one mistake made by many families is not passing any wealth onto the next generation ahead of time. “What that enables that next generation to do is build their own wealth, build their own independence from that tier one legacy pot of money, so they’re not going to try and break it up as soon as mum or dad dies,” she says.
The Kennards empire was born in Bathurst, NSW, in 1948 when a customer of the machinery business owned by Walter Kennard – Angus’ grandfather – asked if he could borrow instead of buy a concrete mixer. Walter’s sons, Neville and Andy, joined the business and in 1973, Neville launched the self-storage arm. The two parts of the business were split in 1991, partly because the family recognised that they were run quite differently.
Besen’s wealth has been dispersed among his four children, who all have their own business and philanthropic interests; including daughter Naomi Milgrom, who acquired her father’s retail brands Sportsgirl, Sussan and Suzanne Grae in 2003. Property developer Bob Rose is survived by wife Margaret Rose and their four children; sons Stuart and Ryan now run Rose Group.“We view it that we’re custodians of our generation and our job is to pass it onto the next generation in even better shape.
The Rich Lister, whose Audant Investments has $468 million worth of net assets and generated $32.7 million in net profit in the 2023 financial year, considers risk management to be his greatest skill. Fittingly, governance is one of his favourite topics. It dates back to Whyte’s first major career role at Schroders in London, where he says there were “strict processes in place to ensure at all times there were no conflicts and appropriate safeguards in place for clients and the bank”.
Sisters Belinda and Amie Lyone are co-chief executive officers of COS, the office supplies company owned by their father.
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