Paul Newman's Last Act: The Second Generation

This is not your typical family business case and that is what makes it such a rich teaching tool and learning experience. The Paul Newman story covers several family business topics and issues including Fair Process, philanthropy, social ventures, estate and succession planning, governance, next generation roles, entrepreneurship, family communication and relationships, and non-family executives. The sense of fairness is achieved with effective family communication and governance that builds trust to support long-term family commitment. The Newman case demonstrates the difficulty of making ownership, governance and leadership decisions that are effective and perceived as fair by the next generation.

Fair Process is at the core of INSEAD’s work with business families. The sense of fairness is achieved with effective family and business communication and governance that builds trust and supports long-term family commitment. The Newman case deals with the difficulty of making leadership and ownership decisions that are perceived as fair by a business family.