When you think of a family business, you might picture a cosy cafe or corner store. But it's not just local companies that like to keep things in the family. Some of the world's biggest corporations are still family run, from multinational supermarkets to sportscar brands. Read on to see the 40 largest family-owned firms on the planet, according to the latest Global Family Business Index 2021, compiled by the Center for Family Business at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

According to the Center for Family Business, a privately-held firm is considered family-owned if a family controls more than 50% of the voting rights, while a publicly-held company is defined as family-owned if a family holds at least a 32% share of the voting rights. All company revenue figures quoted in this piece have been provided by St. Galen University.