BBC World Service · Business

Inheritance: Fiat

When you’re born into a powerful business dynasty, what comes first: the family or the firm? And when it comes to passing on control, who gets the top job? Inheritance explores the family dramas behind some of the world's biggest businesses. In this 10-part series from the BBC World Service, we look behind closed doors- inside the billion-dollar deals and the family power struggles that shape global empires. Latest season: Fiat. The Agnelli family is the equivalent of Italian royalty. Its influence extends far beyond business into politics, sport, culture and Italy's national identity. But when the family is hit by a series of tragedies, it causes a fracture that will echo down the generations. Previously on Inheritance: Samsung. When the Samsung chairman has a heart attack, his heir is pushed into the spotlight. The complex manoeuvring to secure his succession re-opens old family wounds, prompts one of the biggest scandals in South Korea’s history, and – eventually – helps to bring down a president.

Episodes

Samsung’s rise to global prominence relied on aggressive branding and a ruthless pursuit of quality, exemplified by its strategic product placement in The Matrix to challenge Sony’s market dominance. Chairman K.H. Lee’s obsession with perfection, marked by the public destruction of faulty products, fueled this expansio...

5. Cinderella and the prince

13 Apr 2026

22m

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Succession within the Samsung conglomerate highlights the intense pressure to balance traditional elite expectations with modern business demands. The Lee family’s dynastic stability faced scrutiny when eldest daughter Lee Boo-jin defied social norms by marrying a rank-and-file employee, challenging the chaebol traditi...

4. Shoes to fill

06 Apr 2026

20m

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K.H. Lee’s leadership transformed Samsung from a struggling family business into a global technology powerhouse by prioritizing radical quality improvements over mass production. Following his father’s death in 1987, Lee overcame initial skepticism regarding his competence by implementing the "Frankfurt Declaration," a...

3. The princes’ rebellion

30 Mar 2026

20m

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The Samsung dynasty’s stability faced severe threats in the late 1960s and 1970s as founder B.C. Lee navigated internal betrayal and complex succession planning. Following the saccharin smuggling scandal, an anonymous letter exposing the family's assets to the government forced a reckoning, leading B.C. Lee to sideline...

2. Move fast and break things

23 Mar 2026

25m

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The 2014 heart attack of Samsung Chairman K.H. Lee ignited a volatile succession crisis, threatening the stability of the conglomerate as his son, J.Y. Lee, struggled to secure control amidst a 60% inheritance tax and public skepticism. This transition highlights the precarious nature of South Korea’s chaebol system, w...