The topic of this final paper refers to the longevity of family businesses, with special emphasis on the family business Gavrilović. To this end, the theoretical framework of family business is presented first, followed by the advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, the biggest challenges faced by family businesses, and the typology of transferring ownership of family businesses through several generations. Then, the paper deals with the demographics of companies, statistical data on the life expectancy of companies, the longevity of family businesses and examples of long-lived family businesses. Continuous control of families can be effective because families, for example, are able to positively impact resource stocks and their rational use, apply a long-term perspective that allows for unique strategic positioning, have fewer problems with human resources and greater business values. A sense of connectedness and identity is exactly what drives a multitude of family businesses. The average life-span of family controls in a major family business is about sixty years. About thirty percent of all family businesses are making the transition to the second generation, thirteen percent will continue to be sustainable in the third generation, and only three percent of all family businesses operate at the fourth generation level and beyond. The research part of the paper deals with the example of the family company Gavrilović, which is a long-lived Croatian company in the meat processing industry and meat products. The Gavrilović family business has experienced nine generations, but the company is slowly shrinking and is gradually closing down due to the situation in the country, uncontrolled import of cheaper meat products of poorer quality and lack of interest of the tenth generation heirs.