Families across Asia have gradually become more professional in managing not only their businesses but their personal wealth and philanthropic interests, as evidenced by the growing number of family offices and family foundations.

This case and teaching note explore one of Singapore's early entrepreneurs and the family business empire he created. Eu Tong Sen started from humble beginnings as tin miner, and over the next 50 years built a family firm that included mining, rubber plantations, real estate and banking.

As a multi-generational family business with a 100-year history in industrial engineering, the Nash Engineering Company had turned many challenges into opportunities. But in the late 1990s, the market for their products collapsed. The family and executive managers were faced with several options. Should they try to continue as a stand-alone organization?

This case follows the development of Richard Branson from his early days as the editor of his own student magazine to his current status as founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group. It focuses on the iconoclastic, yet extremely effective, management style and business philosophy of a man who has become one of the world's best-known entrepreneurs.