Whether on the slopes, the pitch or in the boardroom, sports families and entrepreneurial dynasties have more in common than just their impressive achievements. Because in addition to passing on their genetic legacy from one generation to the next, both also excel at preserving and transmitting shared family values - a fact that lies at the heart of their continued success.
When Hubert Wenzel would go skiing with his young family, his children Hanni, Andreas and Petra would often be hard on his heels. Why? Because skiing is what gave that the three siblings their first taste of what it means to compete.
Officially, Hubert Wenzel was the coach of Liechtenstein's women's alpine skiing team. But in the end, it was his children who benefited most from his guidance. After the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, Hanni and Andreas returned to Liechtenstein with a total of four medals. Hanni won two golds (the country's first-ever - and to date only - Olympic golds) and a silver. Andreas came home with a silver medal.
Hanni later married the Austrian pro skier Harti Weirather. So it wasn't a huge surprise to anyone that their daughter Tina Weirather was practically born with skis on. And just like her mum, Tina went on to become a highly successful and versatile skier with countless World Cup podium finishes under her belt.
But the Wenzel-Weirathers aren't a one-off. The Maldini family, for example, reached similar heights on the football pitch, as did the Schumachers on the race track. A study of sporting families found that people who are related to an Olympic champion are 20 % more likely to win an Olympic medal than people who have no such family connection. However, that doesn't mean that some lucky people are just born winners. In fact, scientists still haven't been able to pin down just how exactly, our 20,000 or so different genes influence our personalities.
"When it comes to being successful, it's not the gene pool that plays the biggest role but socialisation," says Sabrina Schell, a professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, whose research explores topics such as new forms of work and family-owned businesses. According to Schell, the values that parents pass on to their children play a greater role than genetics.
This is a phenomenon that can be observed both in sports families and in entrepreneurial dynasties such as the Rothschilds (banking), the Swarovskis (crystal), the Waltons (retail) and the Princely House of Liechtenstein. For example, children in both types of families tend to grow up in an environment that is conducive to developing their talents. "They experience discipline and determination from a young age, and have access to networks that can support them. So they have access to resources that foster success early on," explains Schell.
But if a family wants its younger members to seize the opportunities available to them, the next generation needs to identify positively with the family's achievements. Otherwise, the plan could backfire. "If their parents' success becomes an unattainable benchmark, children can feel overwhelmed. That could lead them to choose a different path, one that enables them to dedicate more time to their personal happiness. But instead seeing that as a failure, it should be viewed as a conscious personal decision," says Schell.
A shared understanding of the family's values and goals is an important building block for successful families when it comes to passing on their wealth to the next generation. LGT supports this process with its decades of experience.
Schell believes that if families want to ensure their continued long-term success, it is pivotal that they build trust, communicate openly and work on strengthening their family ties. This helps ensure that instead of becoming a burden, the pressure to succeed will be a motivating factor for the next generation.
Here are a few sports families that have enjoyed impressive, multi-generational success.
Defender Cesare Maldini played his final game with AC Milan in 1966, and not long thereafter, launched into a coaching career. Cesare's son Paolo followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a legendary footballer in his own right and playing with AC Milan for more than 30 years. And like his father, Paolo kept one foot in the game after retiring, working as a technical director for AC Milan and becoming a co-owner of Miami FC.
After saying goodbye to the pitch, Paolo's number was retired to honour his many achievements. But there was a caveat: should his sons ever play for the team, they would be allowed to wear his famous number three on their jersey. So it's a bit of a shame that Paolo's son Daniel Maldini didn't go on to play for the family's favourite club. Instead, Daniel plays for AC Monza.
Michael Schumacher is considered by many to have been one of the greatest talents in the history of motor sport. His keen abilities first emerged at the tender age of four, when he started karting under the watchful eye of his father Rolf. Michael won his first trophy while still in kindergarten. During his time as a Formula One pilot, Michael broke one record after the other, and won seven world championship titles.
Michael's younger brother Ralf was also destined to get an early start in karting (the boys' father ran a local kart track and their mother operated the canteen). He later became a Formula One driver, although he never quite reached the same level of success as his older brother. Michael's son Mick Schumacher is now making a name for himself in motor sport too. His main passion is driving Formula One cars, but he also enjoys taking a kart around the track from time to time.
You'd be hard pressed to find a sport with more family dynasties than ice hockey. But the most famous among them is probably the Sutter family. In the 1970s and 1980s, brothers Brian, Darryl, Duane, Brent, Rich and Ron Sutter all played in the NHL (the top international ice hockey league).
On 30 October 1983, four of the six brothers found themselves at a veritable on-ice family reunion, albeit a competitive one, with Duane and Brent playing against the twins Rich and Ron. Almost all of the brothers later went on to become general managers and coaches in the NHL. Darryl won the Stanley Cup twice as head coach. But the Sutter legacy doesn't stop there. Each of the six brothers has a son who went on to play hockey. However, all except one have since retired from professional sports.
In 1968, Jigjidiin Mönkhbat made history as the first Mongolian to win an Olympic medal - a silver in wrestling. At the time, there was no way he could have known that his son Davaajargal would one day follow in his footsteps and have a spectacular sporting career of his own.
Because of Davaajargal's slight build, his father initially encouraged him to pursue sports other than wresting, and the boy focused on basketball. But after leaving his homeland at the age of 15 to seek his fortune in Japan, Davaajargal started to gain weight and become stronger. It was in Japan that he was given the ring name Hakuho Sho and became the most successful sumo wrestler in recent history.
Hakuho retired a few years ago, with 1,187 victories under his belt. Considering that two of Hakuho's children recently participated in sumo competitions, it looks like Jigjidiin's legacy is set to continue for a third generation.
Chess was popular in the Cramling family. Pia Cramling's father enjoyed playing correspondence chess, and her brother, who was a strong and patient chess player, would often help Pia practice her chess skills. To avoid attracting attention to the fact that she was a woman, Swedish-born Pia Cramling initially registered for chess tournaments as P. Cramling. She eventually became a Grandmaster, and went on to marry Grandmaster Juan Manuel Bellón Lopez.
The couple have a daughter, Anna Cramling Bellón, who has also proven to be a talented chess player. Anna holds the Woman FIDE Master title and is a highly regarded chess influencer. At the 2016, 2022 and 2024 Chess Olympiads, Pia and Anna competed together as a mother-daughter combo and represented Sweden.
In 1803, a medical student called Friedrich Knie fell in love with a talented equestrian named Wilma. Although their romance was short-lived, Friedrich's love of horses proved enduring, leading him to found Circus Knie. Four generations later, a young Fredy Knie Senior gained international acclaim for his exceptional horsemanship skills, and later became widely respected for his gentle methods for training horses. Fredy Senior married Pierrette Dubois, a tennis and ice-skating champion. Their son Fredy Knie Junior went on to perfect Fredy Senior's techniques, and in turn passed his knowledge on to his wife Mary-José, daughter Géraldine and grandchildren Ivan, Chanel and Maycol.
What are some of the Knie family's most defining characteristics?
They have a very strong sporting and entrepreneurial spirit. And every show that the Knies put on is a testament to what it takes for a family to stay relevant for generations, namely community, enduring values, adaptability and creativity.
"It doesn't matter whether a family focuses on sports or a business; if they want to remain successful for generations they need to have a good mix of strong values and a clear vision, and they have to work hard," says Benjamin Vetterli from experience. As Senior Family Advisor at LGT, he supports wealthy families in the same way that coaches support top athletes, for example, helping them identify their principles for success and in the case of families, setting these out in a family constitution.
Vetterli believes that shared values are essential for ensuring long-term family wealth preservation, which makes them more important than other aspects such as discipline. "Values provide guideposts even in turbulent times." According to Vetterli, this enable families to focus on the future and change with the times without abandoning their values. "However, the next generation will only adopt those values if their parents embody them in a way that is credible," he says.
The Princely House of Liechtenstein has pursued this approach for almost 900 years now, successfully passing on its passion for entrepreneurship and philanthropy for 26 generations.
Stephan Lehmann-Maldonado is a qualified commercial teacher and, as owner of the Sagbar communications agency, also trains young apprentices - when he's not in the gym.
