Famous Family owned businesses

Campbell's Soup: A Symbol of Americana

Fruit merchant Joseph Campbell and icebox manufacturer Abraham Anderson form the Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company. It takes off when a young chemist invents condensed soup in 1897. Today, the Campbell family still controls more than 50 percent of Campbell’s Soup and guards its independence fiercely.

Coors: Brewing Legacy

Immigrant Adolph Coors works his way West to open a brewery in Golden, Colorado. Coors' empire survives 18 years of Prohibition to become America's third-largest brewer. CEO Peter Coors appointed the company's first nonfamily president, Leo Kiely, in 1993.

Johnson Wax: A Shining Example

Samuel Curtis Johnson buys a flooring business in Racine, Wisconsin. Two years later he introduces prepared floor-wax products. The company now plans to split into three discrete units, each run by a fifth-generation Johnson sibling.

Bechtel: Working on the Railroad

Warren A. Bechtel hitches up two mules and goes to work on the Oklahoma railroad. Before long, Bechtel is building roads, tunnels, bridges, pipelines, and dams. Four generations of Bechtels have led the company through 19,000 projects in 140 nations on all seven continents.

Mars: Emperors of Chocolate

Frank C. Mars and his wife start a candy-making operation in their kitchen. The candy tycoon bans executive perks and threatens his sons with disinheritance if they don't perform well at boarding school. Today, Mars faces a perilous transition to the fourth generation.

Motorola: Beginning with Batteries

Brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin purchase a bankrupt Chicago battery business and rename it the Galvin Manufacturing Company. They officially adopt the name Motorola in 1947. Christopher B. Galvin is the current CEO.

Estee Lauder: Still Looking Good

Estee Lauder convinces Neiman Marcus to carry her cosmetics in his department store. Estee Lauder went public in 1995, but with seven Lauders on the payroll, the family still controls 96 percent of the voting shares.