That’s true, but do you have any examples that you can share with us? I’d be curious to read more about these companies and how they got to where they are.

Look at any business in your town that you haven't read a headline for, and it is probably a private company where the CEO/founder/boss just keeps the ship upright and the staff paid.

One of my friends growing up had a family business like this, it was a company that, from what I gleamed, just melted different grades of steel and rolled it back up according to customer specifications. His grandpa started it, and his dad runs the day to day. It has a staff of maybe 50 people in the whole factory so everyone knows each others family pretty well.