For the Count, following his ancest

For the Count, following his ancestors’ values also means not looking primarily for short-term successes, but rather fixing his sights on the long-term outlook. “We family entrepreneurs naturally find it easier to think in terms of generations and to see through projects whose fruits will not be reaped for perhaps decades, and only after setbacks. In a listed company, this attitude would have got me fired at least three times by now, especially in the days when shareholder value was the be-all and end-all, and the goal of short-term profit eclipsed any long-term considerations.” These days, the farsighted CEO is reaping considerable recognition for this stance. Fourteen production locations worldwide manufacture a range of more than 2,000 articles for drawing, writing and creative design. But the company continues to produce high- quality writing and drawing implements at its headquarters, near Nuremberg, in order to retain the necessary expertise in Germany. It is thanks to the head of the company that the brand is today synonymous with premium products worldwide. He has developed new market segments such as luxury writing products — the company’s successful Graf von Faber-Castell Collection — and the firm’s cosmetics business, which produces wood- and plastic-cased cosmetic pencils for the global brands of the beauty industry. He often receives visits from journalists and representatives of foreign medium-sized businesses who want to know what it is about German family- run businesses like Faber-Castell that makes them so resilient in times of crisis.