America’s 25 Richest Families
Great fortunes are notoriously easy to lose. Not so for the nation’s 25 richest clans, who’ve bucked the odds and held onto their wealth over generations, in some cases since the late 1800s. Collectively they are worth $722 billion this year, $11 billion less than the top 25 were a year ago.
These scions and builders of America’s great businesses own brands like Campbell Soup CPB -0.71%, Windex, Hyatt Hotels H +1.32%, OxyContin and more. Among this elite group are familiar families like the Waltons and Rockefellers and lesser-knowns like the Sacklers. One newcomer is likely the least known of all: the Goldman family, whose late patriarch Sol quietly purchased hundreds of properties across New York City. Until now, the family has succeeded in keeping the size and reach of their sprawling real estate empire largely under wraps.
The Waltons are the wealthiest family in the U.S. and have been for the three years that FORBES has tracked the wealth of America’s Richest Families. Seven heirs of Wal-Mart founders Sam Walton and James “Bud” Walton own about half of the world’s largest retailer, a fortune that Forbes estimates at $130 billion. That’s down from $149 billion a year ago, primarily due to new information about gifts of stock to charity made by John Walton, Sam’s late son.
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Number two on the list: the Koch family. Charles and David Koch, two of four brothers, run and own the majority of conglomerate Koch Industries , the second-largest private company in the U.S. The four Koch siblings share a fortune that FORBES pegs at $82 billion. The Mars clan, owners of candy giant Mars Inc., maker of M&Ms and Snickers rank third. The three Mars siblings who share the fortune are not involved in management, though John Mars sits on the board, which is chaired by Victoria Mars, daughter of Franklin Mars Jr. and a fourth generation family member. In an unexpected move for a candy company, in March Mars Inc. announced that it is working to limit added sugar in its products and supports U.S. government efforts to include added sugars in food labeling.
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