They will commit themselves late in the piece to marriage, and will be faithful. This, alone, will make them rich. Ruthven believes they will become one of the most entrepreneurial generations in history, and Mackay agrees. So it is Generation X that will ultimately build on the current transfer of Australia's family wealth, which Ruthven says is outranked in proportion only by the pastoralist handovers in the late 19th century. Meanwhile, the present transfer of wealth to the boomers must be managed, a phenomenon that is spawning its own growth industry of family-business advice.
Much attention is given to the tortured question of succession.
There tends to be only one entrepreneurial family member in any family company, Smyrnios says. A common pattern is for the first and second generation to try to expand the business quickly, with the intention of selling. When a business reaches the third and fourth generations, it tends to be treated much more like a family heirloom, or a coat of arms. The owners then want it to become a market leader. Yet this is often the danger point of fragmentation between different family branches.