Abstract
Ford, Estee Lauder, Hyatt. What do these names have in common? For starters, they are behind some of the largest family firms in the world. But they are also associated with a revolution in finance and have pioneered a new set of practices: investing for both return and impact. Why are prominent business families taking this path and what are the behavioral mechanisms leading to it? In our research, we found that individuals in business families use impact investing to build their own identity by either building on, reshaping, or deconstructing their family’s legacy.