September 2026
What does it take to carry family responsibility forward across?
Asia is entering an era of significant intergenerational wealth transition. Yet succession is not only the transfer of assets, ownership, and control. It is also the longer work of preparing people, relationships, and institutions to carry responsibility forward.
Enduring family legacy depends on whether a family can sustain purpose, develop stewardship, build resilience, transmit a sense of belonging, and translate wealth into meaningful contribution over time.
Presented by WMI’s Asia Centre for Changemakers (ACC) and authored by Professor Gao Hao*, Giving Across Generations: A Century of Rockefeller Family Philanthropy and Innovation extends the conversation in WMI’s Asia’s Succession Moment through family philanthropy, institutional continuity and responsibility across generations. Viewed through WMI’s Legacy Flywheel, the case offers a lens on purpose, stewardship, resilience, legacy transmission and impact across generations.
While the Rockefeller experience emerged from a distinctive American context, the questions it raises are increasingly relevant to Asian families navigating major generational transitions.
A lens, not a model
The Rockefeller case offers a Western lens through which to examine that challenge. For more than a century, the Rockefeller family has played a significant role in the development of modern institutional philanthropy.
Across five generations of Rockefeller family philanthropy, the case traces the development of institutions and practices including the Rockefeller Foundation, the China Medical Board’s work to establish and develop Peking Union Medical College, philanthropic trusts, family education and later family philanthropic vehicles.
Its relevance lies not simply in the scale of its wealth, but in evolving efforts to connect wealth with responsibility, institutional innovation and public contribution as circumstances changed.
The Rockefeller case cannot be copied into Asian family settings. Its history, institutions, and public role emerged from a distinctive American context.
Its value lies in reflection, not replication.
Explore the case
For family principals, family-business leaders, family-office professionals, philanthropists, foundation leaders, wealth and legal advisers, and next-generation family members, this case offers a long-view lens on responsibility, philanthropy, institutional continuity and intergenerational legacy. It invites reflection on preparing for difficult decisions, practising stewardship, aligning structures with purpose and sustaining meaningful participation across generations.
It invites readers to consider:
Download the Rockefeller case to explore the questions.
*Professor Gao Hao is Vice Director of the Institute for Philanthropy, Tsinghua University; Director of the Global Family Business Research Center, PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University; Visiting Professor, WMI.
跨越世代: 洛克菲勒家族慈善事业的百年传承与创新
2026年9月
亚洲正进入显著的代际家族传承阶段，家族传承不仅是资产交接，更关乎家族治理、下一代培养与守护责任—洛克菲勒家族逾百年的慈善实践，为此提供了一个具体的参照案例。
一个能够长久延续的家族传承，取决于家族能否维系使命、培养守护责任、建立韧性、传递归属感，并将财富转化为长期而有意义的贡献。
由财富管理学院亚洲创变者中心（Asia Centre for Changemakers, ACC）呈献、清华大学高皓教授*撰写的《跨越世代：洛克菲勒家族慈善事业的百年传承与创新》，延续财富管理学院《亚洲的传承时刻》（Asia’s Succession Moment）所提出的讨论，从家族慈善、制度延续与跨世代责任的角度，进一步探讨家族传承。
透过财富管理学院的“传承飞轮”（Legacy Flywheel），本案例提供了一个理解使命、守护责任、韧性、家族传承与影响力如何跨世代延续的视角。
洛克菲勒家族的经验形成于独特的美国背景，但它所提出的问题，正日益与经历重大家族传承的亚洲家族息息相关。
作为视角，而非范本
洛克菲勒案例提供了一个来自西方的观察视角。
一百多年来，洛克菲勒家族在现代制度化慈善的发展中扮演了重要角色。案例追溯其跨越五代的发展，涵盖洛克菲勒基金会、中国医学委员会及北京协和医学院、慈善信托、家族教育，以及后续家族慈善机构等制度与实践。
案例的价值并不只在于家族财富的规模，而在于其在不同历史阶段中，如何尝试将财富与责任、制度创新及公共贡献联系起来。
洛克菲勒家族的历史、机构与公共角色，形成于特定的美国社会背景，无法直接复制到亚洲家族的情境之中。
本案例的价值，在于引发反思，而非提供可照搬的模式。
探索案例
本案例适合家族负责人、家族企业领导人、家族办公室专业人士、慈善人士、基金会负责人、财富及法律顾问，以及下一代家族成员阅读。
它提供一个跨世代的长周期视角，邀请读者思考责任、慈善、制度延续与家族传承，并进一步探讨如何：
下载案例研究，并将其中的反思问题带入下一次家族、董事会或顾问团队的讨论。
*高皓教授为清华大学公益慈善研究院副院长；五道口金融学院全球家族企业研究中心主任；财富管理学院 (WMI) 访问教授。
