Not to be a devil's advocate, but this is one of those fmls that need a more thorough explanation IMO. A poor worker generally still thinks they're a good worker in my experience, so while from OP's perspective he was busting his hump, that may not necessarily be the case. Or he may just be underappreciated in which case assassination of the nephew is the only option.

Either way his father should have told him earlier though.

I think running a business has more to do with management skills that with simply working? Perhaps the dad simply neglected to teach his son about managing and used him as a workhorse, which results in him not being qualified for taking over (but rather a good executive). And all workers generally improve on their trade after a few years, even if they are poor to begin with - especially if someone is there to show them the works. All in all, some dads are just dicks.

'If you can'? 'IF'? Heck no, he should definitely tell his father what he thinks about this turn of events and demand an explanation, at the very least!

Also, the main problem is not that he is not passing the business over to his son, but to another family member. The main problem is that OP has worked hard and the father isn't keeping his end of the deal.

#15, It's like being in politics for over 30 years and expecting to become president but some guy shows up with a small loan of a million dollars with fantasies of wall building and thrashes you in the polls

There was no deal. The son just assumed he was going to inherit it

op is literally his son

While I don't see the nephew inheriting as the problem, I want to call a bit of BS on it not mattering because of the lack of a formal contract. Most parents that build businesses raise their kids with the business becoming their responsibility looking over their heads. A lot of them go so far as to try to control everything about the kids life to 'prime' them to take over. They basically socially isolate their heir from any and everything except prepping to assume the role of owner. And then some of them bring in someone else who's never been mentioned and essentially say, "You weren't good enough, so I got a better one. You can say good bye to all the responsibility I prepped you for, and all the benefits too." So maybe nothing was in paper- but it definitely sounds like there was an agreement in place, possibly even a verbal contract. Even excluding the poisonous cases, in most cases where a parent owns a business, it's generally accepted as fact by the child, family, and even community that the child will inherit. Not saying something earlier was a dick move on the father's part, and it not being a written contract does not exempt him from the guilt. OP could have started their own business or left to pursue an alternate career if he had known earlier. As it stands now, he's going to be stuck at a job with a younger relative holding a position that OP has probably been trained for, for several years. That's a dick move on the dad's part, and he honestly deserves a kick to the bullocks.

Lion king lol

this feels like a wimpy episode of Game of Thrones...

long live the king

Not necessarily. Unless it was explicitly promised to OP, their dad has every right to pass on the company to whoever he chooses. It's not like OP worked for free.. If he wasn't working hard at the father's company, he would still be working hard somewhere. It's hardly a sacrifice. He got paid. He got experience. It may be frustrating, but it is still a business. OP chose to be there. Unfortunately, the father chose a different heir. Both are entitled to their own choice. Does not necessarily mean the father was ungrateful. There are other ways to show gratefulness than handing down a whole company..

OP could actually be a really bad worker and is only employed there because it's his dad's company. Also the nephew could also have experience or training at running a business where OP might not. There is a big difference between knowing how to build the widget that the company produces VS actually managing and running a company.

Come on. That's how nepotism is supposed to work.

Life's not fair. Saddle of for a ride and hold on. It gets bumpy and knocks you down. Don't be a pussy, get back up and kick its ass