Abstract
The Nordic countries have more large family businesses than most other countries per capita and in GDP terms, and most of them are Danish and Swedish. The chapter demonstrates how certain national institutions have protected expansion and success of these, and how family members have pushed for institutional change to benefit its own commercial operations. The chapter also shows how strategical choices, e.g. holding on to the core business instead of diversifying, are related to the resilience, as well as why some of the family businesses have left the scene. Holding onto the original industry, products and services have in most cases been enough and the most successful survival strategy.