Private companies usually have their shareholders meet every Sunday lunch, shop talk is kept to a minimum so as not to offend the “in-laws” and siblings not involved in the business.
Family owned companies are involved in management and get remunerated by far more than just dividends. The reputation that comes with a company that does well, that is a highly sought-after employer, that leads in innovation, in environmental thinking and international expansion, that does things right - rubs onto the family. For a family to be leading a business that is a role model brings a non-monetary compensation that makes this tight-knit group far richer than any stock market investor could ever be. Can you imagine the pride of a family where the business it owns addresses the capacity needs for the only paediatric HIV protease inhibitor? or the most innovative (avian) flu medicine?

Full version of Family owned businesses article