Prince Thomas, the proverbial "guy who wrote a book" about family businesses, addressed the soon-to-be journalists at ACJ, Chennai.

Thomas began with the definition of family businesses, "It is the second generation that is tricky", he said, and gave a brief history of all major business families in India.

He then discussed many familiar examples of families that run businesses such as the Birlas, the Ambanis, the Mahindras- and tracked the shifts in business hubs in India over the last 75 years from Kolkata in 1951, to Bombay and Delhi today. Thomas said earlier these family run businesses were predominantly engaged in the textile industry, but are now part of the infrastructure, oil, and telecom arenas.

Thomas said business families have peculiar holding structures in their companies, and a strong board of directors to keep the organisation running smoothly. He also said promoters are the crux of the business in this beat. "Everything they say on social media, the investments they make, their feuds, and their lifestyle - everything is a story", Thomas said. He urged the students to follow the business-class on social media and track the company's share prices.

After a few case studies, Thomas highlighted the presence of long-form stories while covering family businesses in India. Having covered this beat over his long career, he said the importance of cultivating sources in this field and left tidbits about where to look for the story.