This volume reveals the findings of the authors' five-year research project into 18 long-lasting companies. Each of the companies have an average age of 100 years and have outperformed the stock market by a factor of 15 since 1926, and are studied in direct comparison with one of their main competitors. The text examines the companies from their beginning until the present day: as start-ups, medium-sized companies and large corporations. The outcome of this investigation was that many traditional beliefs and concepts were shattered, principally the myth that the success of a company depends on the leadership of people with rare and mysterious qualities that cannot be learned by others.