Wayne Rivers is the co-founder and President of The Family Business Institute, Inc.  He has authored two books on the subject of business families: Prescriptions For a Healthy Family Business and You Don’t Have To Die To Win – Success and Succession For Family Businesses. Wayne has appeared on the television programs "The Prudent Advisor" on the Retirement Living Network, "BusinessWeek: WEEKEND," and the CNBC special “American Family Business.”

Wayne has been quoted on the subject of family and closely held businesses by The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur, CFO, Family Business, The New York Times, Washington Post, Crain’s Chicago Business, Crain's New York Business, The San Francisco Business Times, and by other trade, local, regional, and national publications. He has written hundreds of articles for various magazines and trade publications and has produced an acclaimed quarterly newsletter, Family Times, for over ten years. He has done workshops and lectures for Harley-Davidson, CCA Global, ACA International, The Associated General Contractors of America, The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, The Association of Consulting Foresters, National Air Filtration Association, Northwestern Mutual Life, Mutual of New York, Wake Forest University, Virginia Tech, Babson College, UNC Asheville, Methodist College, Florida Automobile Dealers Association, North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, North Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association, and many others.

Wayne is a member of the Closely Held Business Committee of The Associated General Contractors of America. He has also recently completed The Family Firm Institute Certificate in Family Business Advising Program; this program benefits both family business advisors and their clients by establishing knowledge standards for better serving family-owned enterprises.