Latest / Family Business Stories with Fexingo: Succession, Legacy, and Multi-Generational Companies
How the Wedgwood Family Lost a Ceramics Empire
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the cautionary tale of Wedgwood, the 260-year-old British ceramics company that defined fine china but collapsed in 2009. They explore how the family's reluctance to modernize production, over-reliance on aristocratic clients, and a disastrous sale to a leveraged buyout firm led to the brand's downfall. Specific numbers include the company's $250 million debt pile at acquisition in 1986 and the fact that Wedgwood lost market share to lower-cost competitors like Lenox and Mikasa. Lucas explains how the Wedgwood family's insistence…
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