By 2030, an estimated 60,000–80,000 Polish family-owned companies will have to confront the challenge of succession. At present, more than half of such businesses in Poland are still run by the first generation of owners, according to the report “Family Businesses in Poland 2025 – Between Tradition and the Future.” An increasingly popular succession tool is the family foundation. In the two years since the relevant regulations came into force, Polish entrepreneurs have established nearly 2,500 such foundations.
“The fundamental challenge facing Polish family businesses is generational change. Most Polish family enterprises were founded after 1989, so we now have 36 years of a free-market economy behind us. We are reaching a point where the founders—the business patriarchs—are of an advanced age and must ensure the continuity and durability of the family business, both in terms of family security and corporate stability,” says Piotr Aleksiejuk, legal counsel and managing partner at Wojarska Aleksiejuk & Wspólnicy, in an interview with Newseria.
The fifth edition of the study “Family Companies on the WSE,” prepared by the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Grant Thornton, shows that 166 family-owned companies were listed on the WSE in 2025, accounting for 41% of all issuers on the Main Market. While these firms are, on average, smaller and less profitable than non-family companies, the authors note that they stand out for their lower volatility of results.
“Family businesses are, in operational terms, no different from non-family firms. They prepare for the future in the same way as any other company. The only real difference is that a family business must think about succession and decide whether it wants it or not,” says Henryk Orfinger, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dr Irena Eris.
According to the Mariański Group report “Family Businesses in Poland 2025 – Between Tradition and the Future” (August 2025), more than half of Polish family businesses are still run by the first generation, while one in three is managed by the second generation. In over one-third of companies, strategic decisions are made by the founder, and in another 30% by the entire family. Only 15% of firms have a formal succession plan; 37% of founders have not named a successor at all, and 29% are in the process of planning succession. The prevailing belief remains that matters will “sort themselves out” and that children will naturally take over when the time comes. In many companies, family and business relationships still operate in parallel, without a clear division of responsibilities—an arrangement that increases the risk of disputes capable of destabilizing the enterprise.
“A solution that both meets expectations and aligns Polish entrepreneurs with European standards is the family foundation, which entered into force in May 2023 and has changed the rules of the game. At last, we have an instrument that unites rather than divides. It allows us to secure the family—by ensuring appropriate benefits regardless of whether a family member is involved in the business—as well as the continuity and durability of the company itself,” explains Aleksiejuk.
The WSE–Grant Thornton report indicates that in December 2025, 16% of listed family companies had disclosed a family foundation, up from 5% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the report “Family Foundations 2025,” prepared by Bank Pekao, Business Insider Polska, and the law firm Tomczykowski Tomczykowska, shows that by the end of April 2025, entrepreneurs had filed 3,866 applications to register a family foundation, 2,529 of which had already been entered into the register. The publication describes family foundations as one of the fastest-growing succession tools, opening a new chapter in Polish succession practice.
“Succession requires legislative support, and that support is provided by the Family Foundation Act. Those who have built strong brands take this very seriously and use family foundations for succession. That said, the law requires continuous refinement to ensure it truly serves succession purposes rather than other aims, such as tax avoidance,” notes Orfinger.
A family foundation allows for precise regulation of benefit payments, decision-making processes, and the role of external managers, while also protecting the company’s assets from fragmentation after the owner’s death. The “Family Businesses in Poland 2025” report shows that failing to plan succession leads to intergenerational conflicts, chaotic transfers of control, and legal and tax problems—factors that can destroy both the business and family relationships. As a result, entrepreneurs are increasingly seeking formal solutions.
“The family foundation institution provides all the necessary tools to secure ownership, governance, and assets within a family business—and within the family itself,” explains Aleksiejuk.
Research cited in the report indicates that family foundations remain relatively unfamiliar: 21% of respondents declare good knowledge of the institution, while 19% recognize only the name. The most frequently cited objectives of a family foundation are asset protection (32%) and business continuity (24%), suggesting growing awareness among entrepreneurs.
“We see increasing interest in succession projects among owners, primarily due to age and deeper reflection on ensuring their legacy endures—either as a unified structure they created or as a platform for developing new business branches built on the founders’ achievements. As for successors, statistics show that only a few percent want to continue their professional lives within the family firm,” the legal counsel notes.
The Mariański Group report also finds that some successors do not see themselves as future business leaders. Others say they would consider joining only after gaining external professional experience, which often becomes an added value for the organization.
“When we look at foreign family businesses, many family members return after several or even a dozen years and continue to develop the company. They come to appreciate the scale of what their parents built and the effort and time it required. The future will show how this plays out in Poland, but internationally, a large proportion of children do return and become the driving force that further develops the family business,” Aleksiejuk assesses.
Ultimately, the shape of succession always depends on the founders’ decisions—they define benefit rules, asset management, and the role of subsequent generations. Reports emphasize that the earlier a succession plan is created, the lower the risk of conflicts and operational disruption.
“For a smooth generational transition, founders—the people who built the company—must consider who the beneficiaries are: the preferences of their children and grandchildren, what they enjoy, and whether they are able not necessarily to run the business—because that is not the point—but to think about it and engage in the work of the family foundation,” Orfinger concludes.
