http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/10/12/why-the-rich-love-family-mission-statements/Why the Rich Love Family Mission Statements
One of the most-fascinating trends among the wealthy is the corporatization of private life: Things that used to be simple and personal in life have become bureaucratized, systematized and jargonized in mimicry of the corporate world.
Today’s rich want to invest like institutions rather than individuals. Their homes aren’t homes, but properties managed by household managers. They don’t have plumbers, contractors or florists, but vendors.
The latest incarnation of the trend is the family mission statement. Companies love mission statements — those overwrought proclamations filled with platitudes like “excellence” and “community.” Now the mission statement is being imported to the rarified world of rich families.
As my column today explains, a new cottage industry has cropped up around selling mission statements to rich families. They cost between $15,000 and $100,000. Rich families love them, since they make them sound important. They also give parents some much-needed moral comfort as they leave millions of dollars to their kids. With a mission statement, parents aren’t just passing down money; they’re also passing down values.