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Succession planning

May

William Clay Ford jnr, executive chair of Ford Motor Company and sons William Clay “Will” Ford III (right) and Nicholas Ford (left) at the Ford Australia 100th year anniversary celebration in Melbourne. Photograph taken on the 4th of April 2025 by Louis Trerise. AFR 

How the Ford family plans to avoid a Murdoch succession battle

Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Ford founder Henry, has three rules for any of the family who want to work in the business. “It’s not a family employment agency.”

Retired Joe Rinaldi has time to indulge his passion for classic cars.

Do these 4 things if your kids can’t (or won’t) take over the business

Joe Rinaldi poured his heart and soul into building a profitable car dealership. Then came the realisation he had no successor.

April

Documenting succession plans with contracts can help family businesses avoid the type of court stoush the Levis family is embroiled in.

How to avoid a succession fight like the Cue fashion family’s

The legal principle of promissory estoppel is tripping up founders who have made promises but not put them in writing.

Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, and Pope Francis give the popular hand sign for “I love you” in Manila in 2015.

Will a ‘young’ Filipino become the next pope?

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, is often mentioned among Catholic Church liberals – but his age may actually count against him.

The guts of Mineral Resources and WiseTech’s issues is who, if anyone, can replace founders Chris Ellison and Richard White.

WiseTech and MinRes’ founder troubles are now succession problems

With their leaders’ power galvanised by scandals, the two companies are trying to get on with life. But what does the future really look like?

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Sophia Rahmani is the new CEO of Magellan Financial Group.

How the Macquarie CEO played a role in setting me up to lead Magellan

When Magellan chair Andrew Formica was on the hunt for a CEO, he had a quiet chat to Shemara Wikramanayake about her approach for setting executives up for success.

Leaving assets to a pet can lead to bitter disputes.

What a beach house and dog called Trouble teach us about succession

Estate planning is where wealth collides with family politics, and nowhere does that hit harder than with lifestyle assets.

March

It’s an opportune time for BoQ’s board to gauge the talent pool for its next leader, given Patrick Allaway was never intended to be a long-term executive.

Executive changes disrupt big banks as BoQ sounds out CEO candidates

The musical chairs have started one rung down from the big banks’ top jobs, and everyone is looking for new hires. When will the music stop?

Nick Andrianakos, pictured in Greece’s Nafplio, where he had been building a hotel.

Property billionaire Nick Andrianakos dies in Greece

He came to Australia in 1967 and spent a decade working in various jobs, including for Richard Pratt’s Visy, before saving enough to buy his first petrol station.

February

Singapore’s richest dynasty: Kwek Leng Beng (front) and his son Sherman Kwek are embroiled in a public feud over governance.

Singapore’s richest clan in crisis over public father-son feud

Even by the standards of Asian succession dramas, the family feud raging at the Kwek dynasty, who run Singapore’s biggest listed developer, is striking.

Myriam Robin, Neil Chenoweth, The Fin podcast.

How Donald Trump upended Rupert Murdoch’s succession plans

This week on The Fin podcast, Myriam Robin and Neil Chenoweth on the bitter fight for control of the Murdoch media empire and why Trump’s reelection has complicated it.

Ross McEwan, left, and Ken MacKenzie pictured in Melbourne on Wednesday.

BHP appoints former NAB boss Ross McEwan as its next chairman

He succeeds Ken MacKenzie, who had chaired the world’s biggest mining company for just over eight years, at the end of March.

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What the ATO wants to know about your family’s succession plan

The founders of some of the nation’s most successful family business will soon turn 70, and the ATO wants to know what comes next.

January

Lindsay Fox and grandson Harry were out and about at the Australian Open on Sunday.

Lindsay Fox debuts new branch of family tree at Australian Open

The trucking magnate, closely flanked by his grandson and newest employee, rubbed shoulders with corporates and bankers at the men’s championship.

AFT

As wealth whisperers help the rich, one rebel gave it all away

A service industry has sprung up to help wealthy families preserve their fortune through the generations, but Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn had other ideas.

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Daniel Pinto has decided to step aside.

Jamie Dimon’s top lieutenant departs JPMorgan

The executive shuffle is the latest twist in the long-running question of who will succeed the longest-serving CEO of any major US bank.

December 2024

Rupert Murdoch’s attempt at cementing Lachlan’s control over the media empire was rejected by a Nevada court.

Logan Roy’s death morphed into a real life Murdoch succession drama

Shortly after the fictional patriarch died on television, the family behind the News and Fox empires began to plot life after their patriarch, Rupert.

Nuno Matos has worked at HSBC for several years, most recently in Hong Kong.

ANZ investors see new chief executive Nuno Matos as a clean slate

The bank appointed the former HSBC wealth boss to succeed Shayne Elliott over internal candidates. The Portuguese banker, 57, will take up the job next year.

ANZ boss Shayne Elliot leaves no shortage of unfinished business.

ANZ’s left-field CEO pick piles risk upon risk

A new chief executive with no Australian experience will spend years finishing Shayne Elliott’s signature projects. It’s a perilous sandwich for investors.

September 2024

The Fin - Patrick Durkin and Max Mason

Why the Pratts are fighting over the family fortune

This week on The Fin podcast, BOSS deputy editor Patrick Durkin and senior reporter Max Mason discuss the legal fight over the Pratt packaging fortune.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/succession-planning-1mtp