Review of the 18th wir-Tage "Succession & Leadership"

From February 23 to 24, 2026, the 18th wir-Tage took place in Frankfurt—a forum for business families organized by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, focusing on succession and leadership.

This year’s wir-Tage once again demonstrated the vital importance of governance and succession for the future viability of family businesses. Through various discussion formats and the openness of the speakers, it also highlighted how individual the requirements, approaches, and solutions within family businesses truly are.

Our contribution to the topic of governance

During a deep dive on governance, our Managing Director Martin Auer demonstrated how a governance system is built and developed to meet the diverse demands at the intersection of family and business.
The key message: Effective governance is not a one-size-fits-all model. The scope of governance must align with the company's DNA and the family to be effective in achieving its goals. It evolves alongside the complexity of the company, the shareholder group, and the organization.

Especially in the tension between family and business, structures are needed that provide orientation, create clarity, and simultaneously allow enough flexibility to respond to change. In this context, we explored the importance of timing when introducing such structures, how corporate and family governance can be meaningfully integrated, and the role of the owner family in securing long-term succession and strategic management.

Together, we developed concrete approaches for building and advancing governance systems—ensuring that leadership and succession are not just planned, but successfully implemented.

Valuable insights for business families

THE MAK'ED TEAM works with medium-sized companies and their shareholders to develop appropriate procedures for active management, leadership, and succession. We understand what is at stake for family businesses and business families.

Our special thanks go to all participants of the wir-Tage as well as the organizers, who made this event possible with great dedication and high quality.

You can find more information on the topic of governance here.

Image credit: © Dirk Beichert | BusinessPhoto