An RMAACA Publication

World's Oldest
Companies

The businesses that lasted centuries — what kept them alive, and what nearly ended them. One company every fortnight, read the way a chartered accountant reads a going concern.

By Mahesh Ramanujam, FCA, DISA(ICAI) · Biweekly

What this is

A handful of companies have outlived empires, dynasties and currencies. Their stories usually get told as trivia — a founding date and a family name.

World's Oldest Companies reads them as businesses. One company per episode: how it made money, what kept it going for centuries, and the decision — or the shock — that tested it. Each episode ends with one durable lesson.

Who it's for

Founders, family-business owners, boards and anyone who thinks about succession, debt and longevity. No nostalgia. No listicles of "oldest firms".

Family Businesses Founders Boards & CFOs History Readers CA Professionals

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Kongō Gumi: 1,428 Years, Undone by Debt

A temple-building firm founded in 578 AD survived fires, wars, regime change and the 1927 banking crisis. It did not survive the land borrowing it chose in the 1980s. Why most earlier crises hit the revenue side — and this one hit the liabilities.

8 October 2026 8 min read Kongō Gumi · Osaka · 578–2006

Read Episode 01

World's OldestCompanies

What this is

Who it's for

Kongō Gumi: 1,428 Years, Undone by Debt

One old company. Every fortnight.

World's Oldest
Companies