The 100 largest companies in Germany controlled by families and family -related foundations generated added sales of 1.6 trillion euros in 2024. This is around 15.5 billion euros or one percent more than a year earlier. “The sales figures 2024 are the highest that we have ever investigated in our analysis of Germany’s 100 largest family businesses,” says Mark Binz, senior partner of the Binz & Partner law firm, which conducts the study annually. “The aggregated growth of all large family societies exceeded the stagnating gross domestic product of the German economy in 2024,” adds Binz. “Despite the economic headwinds, numerous companies stayed on the growth course.” The family -owned companies would have proven to be a stabilizer of the German economy.
At 3 percent, growth was particularly significant among those family businesses who are entirely in the hands of owners. 23 family businesses of the top 100 are listed, but under the control of an entrepreneurial family. These listed family businesses lost one percent of their sales to 736 billion euros.
The ranking at the top remained largely unchanged. Volkswagen, by far the largest of a family (families Porsche/Piëch), achieved an increase of one percent with 325 billion euros. The development of the first pursuer, the Schwarz Group (Black family), was also positive. The Neckarsulmer came up with sales of 175 billion euros (+5 percent). Follow BMW (Families Quandt/Klatten) with 142 billion euros in sales (-8 percent) and Aldi Nord/South (Families Albrecht) with a published turnover of 112 billion for 2023 (figures for 2024 were not yet available until the time of going to press). Continental (Schaeffler family) with 40 billion euros (-4 percent) slipped by one place to 6th place in the ranking, while the pharmaceutical agency dealer Phoenix (Merckle family) with a turn of sales to 47 billion euros (+30 percent) was good and is now the fifth largest German family business.
30 companies with declining sales, auto industry suffers
30 family businesses recorded 2024 declining sales figures (2023: 20 companies). In the years before, it was only a small number of family businesses that could not increase their sales. Significant brake tracks are emerging from the companies in the automotive industry. In addition to the loss of sales at BMW and Continental, family-controlled automotive suppliers of the second row such as Mahle (-9 percent), Dräxlmaier (-2 percent) and Webasto (-7 percent) also lost volume. “It is unmistakable that despite their pronounced resilience, a growing part of the German family businesses from the difficult economic framework in Germany cannot decrease, ”explains Binz.
Binz does not see tendencies to turn its back on the location of Germany. “However, the tendency to invest in Germany last year.
4.6 million employees work for the top 100
The number of employees of the 100 largest German family business at the end of 2024 was 4.63 million people, one percent more than in the previous year. “The German family businesses are also a guarantee of comparatively safe jobs in Germany and abroad in difficult times. This relative stability for their employees also distinguishes them in times of major upheavals,” says Binz, who has been the supervisory board chief of the listed optic chain Fielmann since 1994.
Profit margins crumble, double -digit decline in profit
The profit margins for family businesses were also under great pressure in the previous year. The EBIT of those 41 family businesses who show their result has dropped considerably last year. The added operational result was only 60 billion euros in 2024, a minus of 15 percent. The good news: none of the companies for which the EBIT is available wrote losses.
Furthermore, the assessment of the large German family businesses applies, according to Binz & Partner. The equity ratio of 42 companies is available. The average is 41 percent, one point more than in the previous year. With the commercial house Ceconomy Only one company from the top 100 list shows a single-digit EK quota with 5 percent.
“According to our data, Germany’s large family businesses are well financed-even if many non-listed family businesses have not yet published their figures for EBIT and EK quota for 2024,” says Binz. “This gives you the opportunity to invest in future topics such as digitization and AI and to react to geopolitical changes, keyword tariffs.”