Top 10 Richest Families in The World
We believe your family’s true wealth is more than money in the bank. It is also the culmination of people, knowledge, culture, and relationships that you have developed over a lifetime. Hidden in plain sight, too few families pause to consider how each form of family capital is an integral part of present and future success.
Family wealth is a conventional form of wealth which involves your family’s cash, investments, real estate, and business interests. These assets form the foundation of your opportunities, and the means of extending your legacy. Here is a current list of the top ten richest families and how they make their wealth with their corresponding net worth.
1. Walton Family
Estimated Wealth: $215 billion
The Waltons’ wealth comes from their inherited, controlling stake in Walmart. While Walmart workers live in poverty, the Waltons rake in billions every year from the company in dividends and sales of their Walmart shares. Their collective fortune derived from Walmart makes them the richest family in the United States of America.
2. Mars Family
Estimated Wealth: $120 billion
The Mars family’s fortune is rooted in its family-owned candy empire, Mars Inc. Founder Frank Mars learned to hand-dip chocolates at a young age; in 1911, he began selling candy from his kitchen in Tacoma, Washington.
The Mars family is an American family that owns the confectionery company Mars, Inc., bearing their name. As of April 2020, the combined private fortune of the family members was estimated at around $120 billion, making them one of the richest families in the world.
3. Koch Family
Estimated Wealth: $109.7 billion
The Koch family is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities (active role in opposing climate change legislation, donating to libertarian, criminal justice reform, and Republican Party causes) and their control of Koch Industries, the largest privately owned company.
Under the Koch brothers, the family company expanded into asphalt, fertilizers, pulp, and paper manufacturing, ranching, natural gas, plastics, petroleum, energy, fibers and textiles, chemical development and production, commodities trading, and finance.
4. Al Saud—Saudi Royal Family
Estimated Wealth: $95 billion
The family is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1744–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling faction of the family is primarily led by the descendants of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, the modern founder of Saudi Arabia. Some estimates of the royal family’s wealth measure their net worth at $1.4 trillion.
This figure includes the market capitalization of Saudi Aramco, the state oil and gas company, and its vast assets in fossil fuel reserves. The king-appointed cabinet includes more members of the royal family.
5. Ambani Family
Estimated Wealth: $81.3 billion
Everything about the Ambani family screams ‘rich’. From the extravagant luxury housing complex in Mumbai to the flashy cars and private yatch, there’s not much in their lives that isn’t either exclusive or designer.
But before the family reached billion-dollar status, Mukesh, Nita, Akash, Isha and Anant were just like any other family. Sure, they had some fame attached to their name, but it was nothing compared to the Ambani craze gripping the nation today.
The majority of Ambani’s wealth derives from a 45% stake in publicly traded Reliance Industries. The Mumbai-based company has the largest oil refining complex in the world, according to its website.
6. Dumas Family
Estimated Wealth: $63.9 billion
Jean-Louis Robert Frédéric Dumas was a French billionaire businessman who was the chairman of the Hermès group from 1978 to 2006. He was also the company’s artistic director. Dumas is credited with turning Hermès into a global luxury brand during his tenure as chairman.
At the head of Herms, today are two cousins: Pierre-Alexis and Axel Dumas. Both are co-chairmen of the brand, Axel the CEO and Pierre-Alexis its creative director, whose father, Jean-Louis, revolutionized Herms from just selling perfectly crafted saddles to an international luxury retailer.
In the fashion industry, Herms is the ultimate status symbol: Its signature Birkin bag takes over 25 hours to make, costs up to six figures, and can be seen on the arms of celebrities and princesses.
7. Wertheimer Family
Estimated Wealth: $54.4 billion
Alain Wertheimer is a French billionaire businessman, based in New York City. He is the chairman and a controlling shareholder in Chanel, with his brother Gérard who chairs its watch division.
The majority of Wertheimer’s fortune is derived from Chanel, the fashion and fragrance company he controls with his brother, Gerard.Chanel had net revenue of $10.1 billion in 2020, according to financials released by the company in June 2021.
8. Johnson Family
Estimated Wealth: $46.3 billion
The Johnsons, led by polymathic patriarch Edward “Ned” Crosby III, built a $46.3 billion fortune with Fidelity Investments, whose products shape the finances of about 32 million people worldwide.
His daughter, Abigail “Abby” Pierrepont Johnson, now chief executive officer of the family business, is among the most influential people in money management.
Yet for a firm that encouraged a cult of personality around its star fund managers, its biggest shareholders and the family’s intricate web of investments remain very much a mystery. Their empire extends from the Boston Seaport to London, Tokyo and West Texas in businesses ranging from hospitals to fiber-optic communication.
9. Boehringer, von Baumbach Families
Estimated Wealth: $45.7 billion
The Boehringer/Von Baumbach Family’s net worth comes from the family pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim which was founded in 1885 in Germany by Albert Boehringer.
As of 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and the largest private one. Headquartered in Ingelheim, it operates globally with 146 affiliates and more than 47,700 employees. Unlike most large pharmaceutical companies which are listed, the company is private and fully owned by the Boehringer, Liebrecht, and von Baumbach families.
10. Albrecht Family
Estimated Wealth: $41 billion
Albrecht learned the grocery business from his mother, in order to escape the fate of his father in the mines. He and his brother Karl developed Albrecht Diskont, one of Europe’s largest chains of supermarkets, with the motto “The best quality at the lowest price,” and now known by its acronym, Aldi.
The majority of Theo Albrecht Jr.’s fortune is derived from a half stake in two closely held grocery chains: Aldi Nord, a discount food retailer in Germany, and Trader Joe’s, a U.S.-based supermarket chain.
