87% of family business leaders have begun a succession process. Only 6% have fully handed over.
This paradox lies at the heart of the second edition of the Family Business Succession Barometer, published on 7 September 2026 by EY, For Talents, FBN France and OpinionWay. The survey questioned 222 family business leaders, both outgoing leaders and successors.
Capital is passed on. Power, far less so. And what holds things back is not where one might expect.
Family businesses account for 71% of French companies and almost 69% of jobs, according to EY. They exist at every size: 71% of SMEs, 73% of mid-sized companies and 61% of large groups are family-owned, as Denis Terrien, chairman of IFA, and Karine Charbonnier noted in an op-ed published in September 2025.
Their longevity is decided to a large extent at the moment of succession. Yet France lags behind. According to the same IFA representatives, only one family business in five makes it to the second generation, compared with five in ten in Germany and eight in ten in Italy.
One in four leaders of family-owned SMEs and mid-sized companies is over 60 (Bpifrance Le Lab, 2023). Bpifrance also notes that 47% of family business leaders aged 60 to 69 have no formal succession plan. Among those over 70, 36% have not prepared the handover.
The EY Barometer confirms this gap. The average age at handover is around 66. Yet 57% of successors describe a handover that was planned, but without a formal process.
The intention is there. The path, far less so.
Family succession remains the preferred choice: 82% of the leaders surveyed by EY favour it. In France, however, it accounts for only 14 to 20% of business transfers, compared with more than 50% in Germany and 60% in Italy (French Senate, 2022).
The question of the successor therefore deserves to be asked openly. A research letter from the Family Business Chair at Université Paris Dauphine-PSL (September 2025) notes that, on average, companies taken over by heirs see a decline in performance compared with those entrusted to leaders from outside the family. Other studies qualify this finding, which depends in particular on the make-up of the family.
Family or not, the choice benefits from being prepared, discussed and owned.
Dutreil pact, donation-partage, acquisition holding company: the legal and tax tools exist, and they are well known. The EY Barometer nevertheless shows that these issues come second. The main challenge is emotional.
42% of outgoing leaders fear handing on a burden. 28% fear family tensions.
On the successors' side, 65% fear they will not be up to the task, even though their track records are solid. 41% worry about family tensions.
These are questions of identity, loyalty and legitimacy. No legal document settles them.
Many pass on the capital. Few pass on the power. 39% of outgoing leaders have already transferred part of the capital, yet only 6% have fully withdrawn from both power and capital.
One explanation stands out: 63% of outgoing leaders have no plan for life after the handover. It is hard to leave a role when nothing awaits on the other side.
68% also wish to keep an official role after the handover, mostly (55%) within the company's governance bodies.
This presence is not neutral. 39% of successors feel it limits their ability to exercise their responsibilities.
For Blandine Pessin-Bazil, partner at For Talents, the real challenge is to transfer the shares while giving up the power and the role that shaped the leader's identity. This letting go, prepared and supported on its human and emotional dimensions, is in her view the condition for the successor to deploy their project in full.
The new generation of family business leaders does not simply carry on. 74% say they have initiated a new strategic project, which for two thirds of them differs from that of the previous generation. Innovation and digitalisation are its first lever (65%).
The effects are tangible: 57% of successors report revenue growth, with an increase of 20% for almost half of them.
Yet the first two years remain a period of fragility. The Barometer describes a paradoxical isolation: successors who are well supported on the technical side, but often alone on the human dimension.
One gap in perception deserves attention. 82% of outgoing leaders state that corporate governance was in place at the time of the handover. Only 58% of successors say the same.
The picture is starker still among leaders who are not considering succession or have not yet thought about it, who account for 28% of the total. The absence of an identified successor (30%) and inadequate governance are the leading causes: 78% of these leaders have none.
For Caroline Mathieu, managing director of FBN France, succession is cultivated over time. It requires solid governance to support transitions and prevent tensions.
When it succeeds, succession strengthens both the business and the family. 84% of successors believe that the company's longevity and family unity come out stronger. Outgoing leaders share this conviction: 98% for longevity and 94% for family unity.
Legal, tax and wealth advisers cover the technical side. Executive coaching covers the rest: a third space, outside the family and outside the business, where each person works on their own transition.
For the outgoing leader:
For the successor:
For both, and for the board: talking about what legal documents do not settle.
Why does family business succession so often stall? According to the 2026 EY Barometer, the obstacles are human first: the outgoing leader's lack of a plan for afterwards (63%), the successor's fear of not being up to the task (65%) and insufficient governance.
When should succession be prepared? As early as possible. The average age at handover is around 66 (EY), while 47% of family business leaders aged 60 to 69 have no formal succession plan (Bpifrance Le Lab).
What is the role of a coach in a family succession? To support the human and emotional dimensions of the handover: the outgoing leader's letting go, the successor's legitimacy, and the quality of dialogue between them and with the governance bodies.
Passing on a business also means learning to leave.
Sources: same as the French version.
Visconti Partners presents its advice, inspiration, and case studies to help you unlock your potential and that of your business.
View all articles
We keep asking the same questions, the ones that confirm how we see the world. Questiology invites us to explore all the others.
In this new episode of VISCONTI TALKS, Jean Philippe MARTIN, partner coach at VISCONTI, welcomes Hervé VARILLON, CEO of Crédit Agricole Leasing & Factoring. Hervé VARILLON shares his personal journey, from his birth in Lyon to his passion for Greece and football. On...
For Louis Godron, the role of majority shareholder is to be a supporter and a catalyst for transformation in companies. The...
.png)
.png)
Discover how Stéphanie propels her company to the European summit thanks to innovative Cyber crisis management. Beyond her technical expertise, Stéphanie is breaking barriers in a field that is mostly male, offering a model of daring female leadership.
%20(2)%20(2).png)