The study examines the relationship of corporate governance mechanisms and performance between family and non-family ownership of public-listed firm in Malaysia from 1999 through 2005 as measured by Tobin’s Q, ROA and ROE. The findings show that on average, family ownership experiences a higher value than non-family ownership based on ROE. On the other hand, based on Tobin’s Q and ROA, the study finds that firm value is lower in family than non- family ownership. In addition, the corporate governance mechanisms such as the board size, independent director and duality for family and non-family ownership has a strong significant influence on firm performance.