How Cargill Stayed Private and Family-Controlled for 160 Years

Family Business Stories with Fexingo: Succession, Legacy, and Multi-Generational Companies · Jul 25, 2026 · 7m · transcript

Cargill is the largest privately held corporation in the United States, with over $100 billion in revenue. Yet after 160 years, the founding families – the Cargills and the MacMillans – still control roughly 88% of the company. This episode unpacks the governance mechanisms that have kept the business private: a family trust that holds voting shares, a constitution that requires family members to work in the business to own stock, and a board that balances family and independent directors. We also look at the 1990s family dispute that led to a trust restructuring, and how the current seventh…