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It’s All in the Family

One of the most memorable business meetings I’ve ever had was with the executive chairman of a successful family business. He told me he had a personal matter to discuss and invited me to his apartment in La Isla, one of the nicest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. His kind and elegant wife greeted me at the door, showed me to a seat near her husband, served us tea, and then discreetly vanished. I sensed that something special was happening.

The man, who was in his seventies, leaned forward and spoke in a calm voice that carried a clear emotional undercurrent. “Listen, Mr. Fernández-Aráoz,” he said, “I will get straight to the point. I have a bad cancer and my days are numbered. I run a family company, now in its third ...

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