In ancient Rome, powerful dynasties often adopted capable young men to carry on the fortunes of a family lacking a male heir with examples of the practice including Augustus as heir to Caesar and Marcus Aurelius to Hadrian. The practice later died out in Europe, which developed an obsession with consanguinity, but is still alive and well in one country, Japan. There, many of the most powerful corporations are family enterprises which have taken to adopting young, professional men who are groomed to eventually manage the corporation while retaining the family name at the pinnacle of power. Two of the largest car companies in the world, Toyota and Suzuki, have embraced the practice with multiple generations of company leadership coming through adult adoption or marriage to a daughter while taking on her name as his own. And it seems to work, usually family owned business are viewed as being unstable due to the uncertainty that comes with leadership being determined by blood rather than ability, but the Japanese family enterprises which practice adoption have usually proven highly stable and long lasting. While this solution to succession problems might seem unusual to some, it has clearly demonstrated its utility over its long history and the high level of popularity among corporate elites dedicated to long term stability the practice has achieved.
See Roshni Kapur, Welcome to the family: Adult adoptions in corporate Japan, Rappler, January 17, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
