FOUNDING-FAMILYOWNERSHIPANDCONTROL in publicU.S. ¢rms is commonly perceived
as a less e⁄cient, or at the very least, a less pro¢table ownership structure than
dispersed ownership. Fama and Jensen (1983) note that combining ownership
and control allows concentrated shareholders to exchange pro¢ts for private
rents. Demsetz (1983) argues that such owners may choose nonpecuniary consumption
and thereby draw scarce resources away from pro¢table projects. Shleifer
andVishny (1997) observe that the large premiums associated with superiorvoting
shares or control rights provide evidence that controlling shareholders
seek to extract private bene¢ts from the ¢rm. More generally, ¢rms with large,
undiversi¢ed owners such as founding families may forgo maximum pro¢ts because
theyare unable to separate their ¢nancial preferenceswith those of outside
owners.1 Families also often limit executive management positions to family