After family wars nearly broke it, Lee Kum Kee wrote a constitution that saved it

Lee Kum Sheung started Lee Kum Kee in 1888 in Guangdong, moving to Macau in 1902 and to Hong Kong in 1932. Growth was repeatedly interrupted by vicious squabbles between siblings, cousins and fathers and sons. Third-generation heir Lee Man Tat, the founder's grandson, took over.

In 1972 Man Tat proposed adding soy sauce and hoisin sauce; his uncles resisted, so with his father's backing he bought them out. In 1986 a younger sibling holding 40% rebuffed his factory expansion, and Man Tat again bought out the dissenter to take sole control. His five children joined the firm, but in 1999 a conflict with his youngest son Sammy over a loss-making health-care division nearly tore the family apart.

Those shocks convinced the family that internal conflict was its biggest risk. In 2002 they set up a family council and drafted a family constitution, with the core value of 'family first, business second'. The governance structure ended the cycle of buyout wars and let the five-generation business keep market leadership.

A family council and written constitution kept control; the 129-year-old sauce maker held market leadership across five generations.

Repeated buyouts had won control but left the family fragile and conflict-prone.

A written constitution and council put succession and business decisions in a predictable structure.

Having the entrepreneur mindset as a rule kept each generation from coasting on the brand.

Separating family affairs (council) from business affairs (board) prevented emotional decisions.

Family governance — a council and a written constitution — is what turns a feuding clan into a durable owner.

Lee Kum Kee grew beyond oyster sauce and soy sauce into a diversified global group spanning sauces, health-care and other products across five generations. The family constitution and council became a model for Asian family firms, and the company stayed family-controlled with a long-horizon governance mindset.