Smucker's 5th-generation CEO said he had to earn his role — and his kids will, too

• Mark Smucker, the CEO of J. M. Smucker Company, said the company is a meritocracy.
• Smucker, a fifth-generation leader, worked outside the company and got a graduate degree before joining.

There are apparently no nepo babies at Smucker's. The CEO said he had to earn his seat and that his $12.3 billion company has rules in place to make sure family members get the right training before they come on board.

Mark Smucker is a fifth-generation leader at the Orville, Ohio-based J. M. Smucker, best known for its iconic Uncrustable sandwiches, Smucker's jam, and Jif peanut butter.

Smucker, 53, took over the CEO role from his uncle in 2016. In an interview with Fortune published Monday, he said he had to prove himself and earn a seat at the company's 128-year-old table.

"Being a family-run business provides cultural strength and a competitive advantage," he said. "J.M. Smucker is a meritocracy, and my journey here took a lot of twists and turns."

The CEO said he was not always keen to join the family business as a child. After college at William & Mary, he spent two years teaching eighth-grade science in Alabama. He later moved to Argentina to work in advertising for a year, his LinkedIn profile shows.

In between the two jobs, he pursued a management degree at Arizona State University's business school.

He joined the family business in Argentina and led Smucker's development in South America, before moving to various divisions in the US during his 26 years at the company.

"As a family, we have rules," Smucker said. "One is that you've got to work outside the company no matter what. We prefer family members to also have a graduate degree. And definitely they need to have outside experience."

His remarks to Fortune echoed similar sentiments from his uncle Richard, who was CEO or co-CEO from 2001 to 2016. Richard Smucker said external experience "broadens their skill level and they bring back things to the company that we wouldn't see if they were at the company from the start."

Current chief Mark Smucker told Fortune that his two children will be subject to the same rules if they choose to join the company, which has about 6,000 employees globally.

"I want my kids to pursue their hopes and dreams, and if they are truly interested in this, I will help them enter the workforce and learn," he said.

J. M. Smucker is part of a small list of global firms with multi-generational succession. Among others is Danish toymaker Lego, whose current CEO Thomas Kirk is a fourth-generation business leader.

Many family-run companies are unable to make it to fourth and fifth generations because of a lack of succession planning. Just over 60% of US family businesses did not have a formal succession plan in place last year, according to a report from private-equity firm Brightstar Capital Partners.

In 2022, a New York Magazine cover story about Hollywood's so-called "nepo babies" launched the word into common use as shorthand to describe people who break into an industry on the heels of their parents' success.