Stan Shih: A Culture-Based “Business Family” Is More Sustainable Than a Bloodline-Based “Family Business”

A New Path for Sustainable Business Succession

TAIPEI (July 7, 2026) — Stan Shih, Co-Founder of Acer Group, has proposed a new path for sustainable business succession. The “AAQW Business Family,” built on the shared culture of the New WangDao philosophy, has grown to include 46 publicly listed companies and generated nearly US$100 billion in annual revenue in 2025. Shih believes this culture-based Business Family model is more sustainable than the traditional bloodline-based Family Business model, offering a new WangDao approach to long-term corporate sustainability.

Acer was founded in 1976 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. During Acer’s first corporate transformation in 1992, the company launched the Dragons Program, aimed at cultivating 100 CEOs, while setting an ambitious “21 in 21” goal: to have 21 publicly listed companies by the 21st century. Today, the broader Acer Business Family—AAQW, comprising Acer, AUO, Qisda, and Wistron—has expanded to 46 publicly listed companies, more than double its original target.

Shih retired from Acer at the end of 2004 at the age of 60, handing leadership to three professional executives. This marked the formation of the ABW Business Family, comprising Acer, BenQ, and Wistron. BenQ later evolved into two independent companies, Qisda and AUO, eventually giving rise to today’s AAQW Business Family.

One defining characteristic of the AAQW Business Family is that leadership succession is carried out by professional managers through the inheritance of shared culture and values, rather than bloodline. This fundamentally distinguishes it from the traditional Family Business model. Shih believes this represents a new succession model and that the AAQW Business Family has successfully demonstrated its viability through decades of practice.

A Business Family is formed by a group of companies consolidated under common financial reporting. Whether through intrapreneurship, investment in subsidiaries, or mergers and acquisitions, companies become members of the Business Family once they are included in the group’s consolidated financial statements. What matters most is that these companies create value together.

Unlike a traditional Family Business, a Business Family is managed by professional executives. Through a professional management system, leadership is passed from one generation of executives to the next. Each company remains an independent entity, operating autonomously while pursuing its own sustainable development. This governance model differs fundamentally from that of conventional family-owned enterprises.

According to Shih, culture plays an essential role in enterprise endurance. Companies must cultivate a shared culture—such as one based on the New WangDao philosophy of altruism—that inspires professional managers to work toward a common vision. They are not working merely for their superiors; they are creating value together. Only then can a genuine Business Family emerge—one connected by shared culture rather than family ties.

Shih emphasized that true succession is not simply about passing a company on to the next generation. Rather, it is about establishing a shared system of values, governance, and culture that enables different companies and successive generations to continue creating value, balancing interests, and achieving sustainable development under a common philosophy. This is precisely the 21st-century leadership philosophy envisioned by New WangDao.