Episode Details
Back to Episodes
How the Hilti Family Built a Tool Empire on Service Contracts
Description
Episode 106 of Family Business Stories with Fexingo. Most power-tool companies sell you a drill and hope it breaks. Hilti sells a fleet, a service promise, and a nearly century-old family discipline. In 2026, as Hilti passes $7 billion in revenue with no debt, we explore how the Hilti family turned construction fasteners into a recurring-revenue machine. Lucas and Luna unpack the 1941 'Hilti Promise' that birthed the tool-fleet-management model, the 1960s bet on direct sales over retail, and the governance structure that kept the business private through three generations. Plus: how the fifth generation is balancing hardware with software and sustainability goals. A masterclass in patient capitalism from a family that measures time in decades, not quarters.