OFDI speed affects the benefits and risks of firm internationalization, which poses a significant challenge for strategic decision-makers. Currently, there is still no consensus on whether the OFDI speed of family businesses is positive or conservative. Based on the behavioral theory of the firm, this paper focuses on the founder control in family businesses and holds that the dual identities of a founder, as both entrepreneur and parent, endow him or her with an entrepreneurial spirit and a long-term orientation, thus making him or her unique in OFDI opportunity exploration and risk-taking. Based on the empirical results of Shanghai and Shenzhen listed family businesses in China from 2003 to 2019, the study shows that founder control can promote the OFDI speed of family businesses compared with non-founder control. This positive effect is enhanced by industry competitiveness, while it is weakened by regional marketization. Further research indicates that compared with second-generation control or professional manager control, founder control can more effectively accelerate the OFDI speed of family businesses. Co-governance between father and son founders will inhibit the OFDI speed of family businesses, while the number of founders does not affect it. Founder control is more inclined to promote the OFDI speed of family businesses entering underdeveloped economies. This paper reveals the differences in the expansion speed of OFDI among different family businesses, deepens the research on the impact of two different types of family control on the strategic behavior of family businesses, and has certain practical insights for the governance and OFDI expansion of family businesses.