World's Oldest Corporations Which Have Run For Centuries Now


Kongo Gumi

Operational Since: 584 AD

How Old: 1,428 Years Old

What it Did: Temple Builders till Worl War 2, and then made Coffins till 2006

They built Buddhist temples for a long term till World War 2, and when they sensed no benefits they switched to build coffins. The world’s continuously operating family business had been trading for 14 centuries with their only secret in tow- Flexibility.

The success syrup that led them survive this long was that the belief system in Buddhist temples took a firm stand way down the generations even till the 20th century. But WW2 came as a blow and in 2006  when the company's borrowings ballooned to $343 million Kongo Gumi was absorbed  into a subsidiary after a firm Takamatsu, a large construction company acquired it.