Billionaires Are Mostly Random

Falky mentioned a paper

"[L]ess informed investors earn the highest (and lowest) rates of return on their total portfolios because they irrationally believe they have a more favorable risk-return opportunity and hence invest in securities with a higher return. In effect, their ignorance effectively diminishes their risk aversion, and in the long run allows a lucky few of them to reap the financial rewards that would accrue to the less risk averse (one could call it the 'Forrest Gump' effect). As opposed to speculation weeding out the irrational traders and making only the best opinions matter, the irrational can dominate the class of winners."

Selection bias, like my review of How to be a Billionaire says.

"How To Blow $9 Billion: The Fallen Stroh Family"

Great case study in Forbes about generational wealth:

"[S]he describes one incident during her college years when she was snorting cocaine with her brothers while the rest of the family was downstairs having Christmas dinner at their Grosse Pointe Farms home."

The beer business ought to be tough to screw up. High gross profit margin - if you had a paid for plant with no debt and distribution in place how could you go out of business?

Once family members lose interest in the business, the best thing to do would be to cash out in a sale to the public or to a competitor. A passive stock and bond index portfolio will beat a business run by people who don't care.

Family members who aren't in the business and just receiving dividends should maybe have nonvoting shares. Or preferred stock.