Cornell Case Competition for Family Ownership

The Cornell Case Competition for Family Ownership offers current graduate students a unique opportunity to examine a family enterprise case up close, alongside the family themselves.

Take the collaborative elements of a hackathon, combine the analytical elements of a case competition, and include the top MBA students in the world and you have the Cornell Case Competition for Family Ownership. This unique event allows students and family business experts to demonstrate their understanding of the issues critical to family enterprise.

The event brings together students from leading business schools, select advisors, faculty and family enterprise leaders sharing their challenges first-hand to receive real-time feedback and ideas concerning the future of their enterprise.

Launched in November 2022, the latest competition took place in February 2026 in NYC.

Recent participants

• Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business
• Cornell University, SC Johnson College of Business
• National Sun Yat-Sen University, Center for Strategy and Human Capital Research
• SKEMA Business School
• University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
• University of Rochester, Simon Business School
• University of Virginia, Darden School of Business
• Washington University in St. Louis, Koch Center for Family Enterprise

Example case

A recent case involved a historic, multi-generational property in the Adirondacks. Students were asked to navigate questions around family dynamics, long-term vision, and how ownership might transition successfully into the future.

Teams had one week to prepare for their presentation on the first day. The second part of the case was presented to students after all first round presentations. Teams had the remainder of the evening and the next morning to complete their case analysis.