by Ekrem Duman | Aug 5, 2026 | Family Ownership, Foundations & Codetermination, Startup
⚡ TL;DRA family constitution is a written agreement among owners defining who may work in the business, how shares may be transferred, how disputes are resolved and how much profit is distributed. It has no independent legal force and it is the single most...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 5, 2026 | Family Ownership, Foundations & Codetermination, Startup
⚡ TL;DRRobert Bosch GmbH is owned overwhelmingly by a charitable foundation that holds the capital and almost none of the votes, while voting control sits with an industrial trust whose members are experienced business people and family representatives. The...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 5, 2026 | Family Ownership, Foundations & Codetermination, Startup
⚡ TL;DRA German foundation can own a company permanently. Shares transferred into a Stiftung cannot be inherited, divided or sold, and voting rights are typically held by a separate entity so that trustees receive the economic benefit without exercising...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 5, 2026 | Family Ownership, Foundations & Codetermination, Startup
⚡ TL;DRGerman companies separate the people who run the business from the people who supervise them into two legally distinct boards with no overlapping membership. A chief executive cannot chair the board that appoints them, and a supervisory board member...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 5, 2026 | Family Ownership, Foundations & Codetermination, Startup
⚡ TL;DRIn German companies above two thousand employees, half the supervisory board seats belong to employee representatives. The chair, appointed by shareholders, holds a casting vote, so shareholders retain ultimate control on paper. In practice, no management...
