Deloitte Private: Survey Reveals Family Businesses are Facing a "Succession Paradox"

Issued New York, 10 February 2026, on an online survey of 300 executives of US family businesses with knowledge of CEO succession planning, conducted by an independent research firm in September 2025, with annual revenues from USD 100 million to more than USD 1 billion. Seventy-eight per cent expect a CEO transition within a decade and 42 per cent within three to five years, 85 per cent agree succession planning is critical, 57 per cent have a plan and fewer than a quarter, 23 per cent, are actively implementing one; among those behind schedule, 62 per cent attribute inaction to succession "not being a critical business priority at the moment". Governance prevalence scales with size: 76 per cent of companies at USD 100 to 500 million have a board rising to 96 per cent above USD 500 million, family councils run 29 per cent against 46 per cent on the same split, and where either body exists roughly half put CEO succession on the agenda at least annually.