Forbes magazine has produced the first list that charts the richest families in America worth more than one billion dollars. From the Kennedys to the Kochs to the Waltons, the list is made up of 185 families, some famed for their historic and dynastic wealth, while others are simply American success stories and have only relatively recently become fabulously rich. The staggering collective wealth of the 185 richest families in the United States is $1.2 trillion dollars and all the names on the list reveal at least some link to either industrial heydays long gone like the Rockefellers or successful brands still in operation such as Hallmark, Budweiser, Mars and Getty Oil.
- Forbes magazine has published a list of the 185 richest families in America
- Each family is worth collectively a minimum of $1 billion
- The collective worth of the 185 families on the list of billionaire families is $1.2 trillion
- The richest family in America is the Walton family who are worth $152 billion
- Other famous names on the list are the Hearsts, Mars and Rockefellers
- Of the 50 richest families, 28 are Republicans and only seven are Democrats
Forbes magazine has produced the first list that charts the richest families in America worth more than one billion dollars.
From the Kennedys to the Kochs to the Waltons, the list is made up of 185 families, some famed for their historic and dynastic wealth, while others are simply American success stories and have only relatively recently become fabulously rich.
The staggering collective wealth of the 185 richest families in the United States is $1.2 trillion dollars and all the names on the list reveal at least some link to either industrial heydays long gone like the Rockefellers or successful brands still in operation such as Hallmark, Budweiser, Mars and Getty Oil.
Wealthiest: This portrait of Sam Walton, his wife and children, decades before his heirs became the wealthiest dynasty in American history, hung in the Wal-Mart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas
The list from Forbes also reveals that the richest family in America is the richest family in the entire world, the Waltons. Worth an incredible $152 billion, which is $63 billion more than the second richest family, the controversial Koch brothers, the Walton family includes the three living children of Wal-Mart Stores founder Sam Walton, the wife of his son John and the two daughters of his brother James Walton. Sam and James Walton founded the store in Arkansas in 1962 and it has since gone on to become the largest supermarket chain in the world. Forbes also discovered through their exhaustive compilation that the three richest families are worth a combined, $301 billion, which is one fourth of all the 185 families put together.
LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM: THE TEN RICHEST FAMILIES AND HOW THEY MADE THEIR FORTUNES
1: The Waltons: The richest family not only in America but the world, the Waltons still own more than 50 percent of Wal-Mart Stores, the firm their father, Sam Walton, founded in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1962.Their staggering combined wealth of $152 billion has grown from the fortune inherited from Sam and his brother, Bud. The three most prominent living members, Jim, Rob (pictured below) and Alice are consistently in the top ten richest people in America. Sam, the youngest son of Sam Walton is worth $34.7 billion, Rob, who is the chairman of Wal-Mart is worth, $34.2 billion and their sister Alice is worth $33.9 billion. Their brother John died in an aircrash in 2005 and at the time of his death was worth $18.3 billion.
3: The Mars family gets its wealth from Mars, the largest candy company in the world. All three of the Mars siblings, Jacqueline, John Franklyn and Forrest Edward Mars, sit on the board and each are reputed to be worth $11 billion each. The company was founded in 1911 by their grandfather, Frank Mars, in Tacoma, Washington. The company is famed for inventing Milky Way and Snickers and M&Ms. The firm also owns Pedigree and Whiskas and makes Uncle Bens rice and had $33 billion in sales last year.
4: The Cargill family owns an estimated 88% stake of Cargill, the largest private company in America, making six family members individual billionaires. W.W. Cargill, the son of a Scottish sea captain, began the firm in 1865 at the close of the American Civil War. The Cargills live extremely private lives in Montana.
5: The (Edward) Johnson family derives their money from the investment fund Fidelity founded in 1946 by Edward C. Johnson II. His son Edward Johnson III and his grandchildren own 49 percent of the firm and control assets of $1.7 trillion. His daughter, Abigail is president and is reputes to be personally worth $11 billion.
6: Famed as the inspiration for Orson Welles’ masterpiece, Citizen Kane, William Randolph Hearst (pictured, right, center with his wife Marion Davies and son William Jr.) was the proprietor of the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. His grandson William Hearst III chairs the Hearst media empire which is made up of more than 300 magazines around the world and the sports channel ESPN. Altogether the family is worth $35 billion.
7: The reclusive Cox family owns Cox Communications which operates Auto Trader among many publications. Altogether the family is worth $32 billion combined.
8: The Pritzker family was headed up by A.N. Prtzker, who died in 1986. Together with his sons he built up the Hyatt hotel group and altogether the clan is worth $29 billion
9: The family behind the S.C. Johnson cleaning products giant own 100 percent of the multi-billion dollar corporation. As a result the family responsible for RAIDand Ziploc bagas are worth $25 billion.
10: Dan Duncan struck oil in Texas in and left $10 billion to his children when he died in 2010. That fortune shared between Randa Duncan Williams, Milane Frantz, Dannine Duncan Avara and Scott Duncan has now grown to $25 billion.
As the second richest family in the United States, the Koch family is worth $89 billion – which is $15 billion more than the combined net worth of all the billion-dollar families in California, which is $75 billion.Proving that the American dream is still alive and well, Forbes have discovered that 17 of the richest families in the US today date their fortunes back to a foreign-born ancestor.Fifteen of those came from Europe, such as the Du Pont banking family of Pittsburgh now worth $15 billion. Others such as the Busch and Coors families brought German beer to the masses.German-born Adolphus Busch began brewing Budweiser in 1876 and the family are now worth $13 billion through the huge popularity of their brew.
ONLY worth $10 billion now: Once the richest family on earth the heirs of (from left) Laurance Rockefeller, Abby Rockefeller, John D. Rockefeller III, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, David Rockefeller, Winthrop Rockefeller, Industrialist John D. Rockefeller Jnr., Nelson Rockfeller are now the 24th richest family in America
Just make the list: Kennedy family members Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI), Sergeant Shriver, Jean Kennedy Smith, Eunice Shriver, Victoria Kennedy, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Kara Kennedy pictured in 2006. The Forbes list of the richest families in the USA listed the Kennedy’s combined fortune at $1 billion
Slightly less successful is the Coors family, who were brought to Colorado from Prussia by Adolph Coors .
Today, 70 members of the Coors family share their $2.9 billion beer fortune.
And fascinatingly, bringing politics into the matter is instructive as to who supports which of the two main parties.
According to Forbes Of the 50 richest families, 28 mainly donate to Republicans and only seven contribute mainly to Democrats. Not all families vote strictly one way or the other — 15 support candidates from both parties.
THE 185 RICHEST FAMILIES IN AMERICA:
Rank: Name Net Worth #Family Members Source of Wealth Headquarters
1 Walton family , $152 B, Six, Wal-Mart, Bentonville, AR
2 Koch family, $89 B, Four, Diversified , Wichita, KS
3 Mars family, $60 B, Three, Candy, McLean, VA
4 Cargill-MacMillan family, $43 B, Nine, CargillInc. Minneapolis, MN
5 (Edward) Johnson family, $39 B, Four, Money management, Boston, MA
6 Hearst family, $35 B, 64, Hearst Corp, New York, NY
7 Cox family, $32 B, Three, Media, Atlanta, GA
8 Pritzker family, $29 B, 13, Hotels and Investments, Chicago, IL
9 S.C. Johnson family, $25.5 B, 11, Cleaning products, Racine,WI
10 Duncan family, $25.4 B, four, Energy, Houston, TX
11 Newhouse family, $17 B, Two, Magazines, Newspapers, New York, NY
12 Lauder family, $15.5 B, Six, Estee Lauder, New York,NY
13 Du Pont family, $15 B , 3,500 (EST.), DuPont, Wilmington, DE
13 Hunt family, $15 B, 34, Oil, Dallas, TX
15 Ziff family, $14.3 B, Three, Publishing, New York, NY
16 Charles & Rupert Johnson family, $14 B, Five, Mutual funds, SanMateo, CA
17 Busch family, $13 B, 30 (EST.), Anheuser-Busch, St.Louis, MO
18 Dorrance family, $12.8 B, 11 (EST.), CampbellSoupCo.Camden, NJ
19 Mellon family, $12 B, 200 (EST.), Banking, Pittsburgh, PA
20 Brown family, $11.6 B, 25 (EST.). Liquor, Louisville, KY
21 Carlson family, $10.3 B, Two, Hotels, Restaurants, Travel, Minnetonka, MN
22 Fisher family, $10.2 B, Four (EST.) , The Gap, SanFrancisco, CA
23 Butt family, $10.1 B, Five, Supermarkets, SanAntonio,TX
24 Rockefeller family, $10 B, 200 (EST.), Oil, New York, NY
25 Gallo family, $9.7 B, 14 (EST.), Liquor, Modesto, CA
26 Marshall family, $9.3 B, Three, Diversified, Dallas, TX
27 Bass family, $9.1 B, Four, – Fort Worth, TX
28 Meijer family, $8.9 B, Four, Supermarkets, Grand Rapids, MI
29 Bechtel family, $8 B, Four, EST.), Construction, Engineering SanFrancisco, CA
29 Reyes family, $8 B, Three, Food & Beer Distrubution, Chicago,IL
29 Simplot family, $8 B, Three(EST.), Agribusiness, Boise, ID
32 Rales family, $7.9 B, Two, – Potomac, MD
33 Rollins family, $7.8 B, Eleven, Orkin, Atlanta, GA
34 E. W. Scripps family, $7.5 B, 50 (EST.), Newspapers, Cincinnati, OH
35 Crown family, $7.3 B, Three (EST.), Investments, Wilmette,IL
36 Stryker family, $7.2 B, Three, Inheritance, Kalamazoo, MI
37 Smith family, $7 B, 60 (EST.), Tools, Chicago, IL
38 Pigott family, $6.9 B, 30, Paccar Inc, Bellevue, WA
39 Shoen family, $6.8 B, 13 (EST.), U-Haul, Phoenix, AZ
39 Simon family, $6.8 B, Five, Shopping Malls, Indianapolis, IN
41 LeFrak family, $6.5 B, Four (EST.), LeFrak Group, New York,NY
42 Hughes family, $6.1 B, Three, Public Storage Inc. Glendale,CA
42 Phipps family, $6.1 B, Three (EST. CarnegieSteel, BessemerTrust, NewYork, NY
44 Kluge family, $6 B, Five (EST.), TVstations, Investments, NewYork, NY
44 Tisch family, $6 B, Five – New York, NY
46 Johnson family, $5.9 B, 60 (EST.), Johnson&Johnson, NewBrunswick, NJ
47 Marriott family, $5.7 B, Seven (EST.), Hotels, Bethesda, MD
48 Kohler family, $5.6 B, Two, Plumbing products, Sinks, Kohler, WI
48 Perot family, $5.6 B, Two – Dallas, TX
50 Barbey family, $5.4 B, 12 (EST.), Textiles, Apparel, Greensboro,NC
51 Gore family, $5.3 B, 24 (EST.), Gore-Tex, Newark, DE
52 Jenkins family, $5.2 B, 25, Publix Super Markets, Lakeland, FL
52 Simmons family, $5.2 B, Three, Inherited, Dallas, TX
54 France family, $5 B – Auto racing Daytona Beach, FL
54 Getty family, $5 B, 28, Getty Oil –
54 Moran family, $5 B, 10 (EST), Toyota distribution Deer Field Beach, FL
57 Van Andel family, $4.7 B, Four (EST.), Amway, Ada, MI
58 Durst family, $4.4 B, 33, Real estate, New York, NY
58 Glazer family, $4.4 B, 21, Sports teams, Realestate, PalmBeach, FL
58 McCaw family, $4.4 B, Five, Telecom, Hunts Point, WA
58 Rudin family, $4.4 B , 30 (EST.), Real estate, New York,NY
62 Chao family, $4.3 B, Three, Chemicals, Houston, TX
62 Haslam family, $4.3 B, Four, Truckstops, Cleveland Browns, Knoxville, TN
64 Alfond family, $4.2 B, Ten (EST.), Dexter Shoe, Portland, ME
64 Wirtz family, $4.2 B, Eleven, Alcohol distribution, Chicago, IL
66 Chandler family, $4 B, 200 (EST.), Newspapers, LosAngeles, CA
66 Stephens family, $4 B, Five (EST.), Dataservices, Birmingham, AL
68 Ingram family, $3.8 B, Five, Book distribution, Transportation, Nashville, TN
69 Nordstrom family, $3.7 B, 11, Department stores, Seattle, WA
70 Pohlad family, $3.6 B, 20 (EST.), Realestate, Banking, Sports, Minneapolis, MN
71 Gund family, $3.5 B, 15 (EST.), Inheritance (Sanka, Banking, Cleveland, OH
71 Schneider family, $3.5 B, 20 (EST.), Trucking, GreenBay, WI
73 Davidson family, $3.4 B, 10 – Auburn Hills, MI
73 Ricketts family, $3.4 B, Six, Ameritrade, Omaha, NE
75 Friedkin family, $3.3 B, Two, Toyota distribution, Houston,TX
76 Steinbrenner family, $3.1 B, Five, New York Yankees, NewYork, NY
77 Haas family, $3 B, Nine, Chemicals, Philadelphia, PA
77 Milstein family, $3 B, Six (EST.), Realestate, NewYork, NY
77 Stephens (Warren, Witt & Elizabeth) family, $3B, Three, Investing, LittleRock, AR
77 Wegman family, $3 B, Two (EST.), Supermarkets, Rochester, NY
81 Booth family, $2.9 B, 30 (EST.), BerkshireHathaway, LosAngeles, CA
81 Coors family, $2.9 B, 70 (EST.), Beer, Golden, CO
81 Ueltschi family, $2.9 B, 20 (EST.), Pilot training, Flushing, NY
84 Bancroft family, $2.8 B, 30 (EST.), DowJones&Co. NewYork, NY
84 Tyson family, $2.8 B, 10 (EST.), Tyson Foods, Springdale,AR
84 Wanek family, $2.8 B, Two, Furniture, Arcadia, WI
87 Gottwald family $2.7 B, Seven (EST.), EthylCorp, Richmond, VA
87 Holding family, $2.7 B, Four, Oil, Resorts, Salt Lake City, UT
89 Bresky family, $2.6 B, Three (EST.) – Chestnut Hill, MA
89 Fertitta family, $2.6 B, Two, Sports and Gambling, LasVegas, NV
89 Hall family, $2.6 B, Three, Hallmark, Kansas City, MO
89 Hewlett family, $2.6 B, 17, Hewlett-Packard, PaloAlto, CA
89 Magness family, $2.6 B, Four, Investments, Denver, CO
94 John Anderson family, $2B, Five EST. Beer distribution, Realestate, LosAngeles, CA
94 Hess family, $2.5 B, 19, Hess Corporation, New York, NY
94 Whittier family, $2.5 B, 50 (EST.) Oil, BeverlyHills, CA
97 De Young family, $2.4, 24 (EST). Newspaper, TVstations, SanFrancisco, CA
97 Karfunkel family, $2.4 B, Five (EST) Insurance, Realestate, NewYork, NY
97 Yates family, $2.4 B, 16, Oil, Artesia, NM
100 Collier family, $2.3 B, 30 (EST.) Real estate, Naples, FL
100 Gochman family, $2.3 B, Three (EST.) Sporting goods retailer, Katy,TX
100 Jackson family, $2.3 B, Seven (EST.) Winemaking, Vineyards, Sonoma, CA
100 Mitchell family, $2.3 B, 11 (EST.) Oil, The Woodlands,TX
104 Demoulas family, $2.2 B, Nine, Supermarkets, Tewksbury, MA
104 Gates family, $2.2 B, Three, Investments, Denver, CO
104 Walsh family, $2.2 B, Two, Construction, Chicago, IL
104 Wasserstein family, $2.2 B, Nine, Investment, New York, NY
108 Asplundh family, $2.1 B, 130 (EST). Tree trimming, Willow Grove, PA
108 Blaustein family, $2.1 B, 30 (EST.) Amocooil, Baltimore, MD
108 Boyle family, $2.1 B, Three, Columbia Sportswear, Portland, OR
108 Epprecht family, $2.1 B, 15 (EST.) Cheese, Hiram, OH
108 Haseotes family, $2.1 B Eight (EST) Convenience stores, Framingham, MA
108 Mcgraw family, $2.1 B, 11 (EST.) McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
108 Sperling family, $2.1 B, Two, Online university, Phoenix, AZ
115 Annenberg family, $2 B, 15, Publishing, Los Angeles, CA
115 Batten family, $2 B, Three, Media, Hampton Roads, VA
115 Ford family, $2 B, 40 (EST.) – Dearborn, MI
115 Perdue family, $2 B, Four EST.) Chicken, Salisbury, MD
115 Resnick family, $2 B, Three (EST.) Real estate, New York, NY
115 Rogers family, $2 B, Two (EST.), Mary Kay cosmetics, Addison, TX
121 Elghanayan family, $1.9 B, Eight (EST.), Real estate, New York, NY
121 Levine family, $1.9 B, 10, Family Dollar, Charlotte, NC
121 Walter family, $1.9 B, Two (EST.) Energy, Houston, TX
124 Bean family, $1.8 B, 25 (EST.) L.L. Bean, Freeport, ME
124 Bucksbaum family, $1.8 B, 12 (EST.) Real estateChicago,IL
124 Fasken family, $1.8 B, Four, Oil, Midland, TX
124 Fisher family, $1.8 B, 17 (EST.) – –
124 Slawson family, $1.8 B, Three, Oil & Gas, Wichita, KS
124 Ward family, $1.8 B, Two (EST.) Chocolate, KansasCity, MO
130 Mark Davis family, $1.7 B, Seven (EST.) Dairy, Le Sueur, MN
130 Krehbiel family, $1.7 B, Three, Electronics, LakeForest, IL
130 Lindner family, $1.7 B, Seven (EST.) Investments, Insurance, Cincinnati, OH
130 Maines family, $1.7 B, Two, Food distribution, Conklin, NY
130 Schottenstein family, $1.7 B, 200 (EST.) Retail, Columbus, OH
130 Weyerhaeuser family, $1.7 B, 250 (EST.) Timber, FederalWay, WA
136 Donnelley family, $1.6 B, 10 (EST) R.R.Donnelley&Sons, Chicago, IL
136 Haas family, $1.6 B, 255 (EST.) LeviStrauss&Co. SanFrancisco, CA
136 Nussdorf family, $1.6B, Five (EST) Beauty products distribution, Ronkonkoma, NY
136 Pitcairn family, $1.6 B, 200, Specialty chemicals, BrynAthyn, PA
136 Sorenson family, $1.6 B, Eight, Medical equipment, WestJordan, UT
136 Tracy family, $1.6 B, 75 (EST.) Food distribution, Mt.Sterling, IL
142 Dobson family, $1.5 B, Three, Whataburger, San Antonio, TX
142 Farmer family, $1.5 B, 15, Cintas, Cincinnati, OH
142 Merage brothers, $1.5 B, Two – Englewood, CO
142 Pulitzer family, $1.5 B, 50 (EST.) Publishing, St.Louis, MO
142 Reed family, $1.5 B, Four (EST.) Lumber, paper, Seattle, WA
147 Belk family, $1.4 B, Eight (EST.) Department stores, Charlotte, NC
147 Dayton family, $1.4 B, 92, Target stores, Minneapolis, MN
147 Estes family, $1.4 B, Seven (EST.) Trucking, Richmond, VA
147 Gilbane family, $1.4 B, 15, Construction, Providence, RI
147 Mckee family, $1.4 B, Five, Food, Collegedale, TN
147 Mead family, $1.4 B, 35, Paper, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
147 Searle family, $1.4 B, Four (EST.) Inheritance, Chicago, IL
147 Westerman family, $1.4 B, Oil, Addison, TX
147 Yoh family, $1.4 B, Three, Construction, Philadelphia, PA
156 Adams family, $1.3 B, Five (EST.) Tennessee Titans, Nashville,TN
156 Bolch family, $1.3 B, Seven, Convenience stores, Atlanta, GA
156 Briscoe family, $1.3 B, Eight (EST.) Ranch land, Uvalde, TX
156 Cohen family, $1.3 B, Five (EST.) Grocery distributor, Keene, NH
156 Colburn family, $1.3 B, Four (EST.) Electric equipment distributor Irving,TX
156 Lewis family, $1.3 B, Five (EST.) Insurance, Mayfield Village, OH
156 Rosen family, $1.3 B, Five (EST.) Meat processing, Fairmont, MN
156 Toll family, $1.3 B, Two, Homebuilding, Horsham, PA
164 Dedman family, $1.2 B, Three, Country clubs, Dallas, TX
164 Hixon family, $1.2 B, 100 (EST.) Electronics, Pasadena, CA
164 Shorenstein family, $1.2 B, Three, Real estate, San Francisco, CA
164 Stayer family, $1.2 B, Nine, Sausage production, Sheboygan Falls, WI
164 Stewart family, $1.2 B Three – Scottsdale, AZ
164 Wood family, $1.2 B, 196, Wawa convenience stores, Media, PA
170 Cabela family, $1.1 B, 11, Cabela’s, Sidney, NE
170 Carhartt family, $1.1 B – Work clothing, Dearborn, MI
170 Graham family, $1.1 B, Five (EST.) Washington Post Co, Washington, DC
170 Hascoe family,, $1.1 B, 13 (EST.) Technology companies Greenwich, CT
170 Herschend family, $1.1 B, 34 (EST.) Themeparks. AtlantaMetro, GA
170 Lykes family, $1.1 B, 250 (EST.) Land, citrus groves, Tampa, FL
170 Mills family, $1.1 B, 25 (EST.) Hospital equipment, Mundelein, IL
170 Miner family, $1.1 B, Four, Oracle Corp, Napa, CA
170 Unanue family, $1.1 B, 12, Goya, Secaucus, NJ
179 Brookshire family, $1 B, 20 (EST.) – Tyler, TX
179 Cadieux family, $1 B, Four (EST.) Convenience stores, Tulsa, OK
179 Comer family, $1 B, Two (EST.) Lands’ End, Waukesha, WI
179 Foster family, $1 B, Five (EST.) Foster Farms Livingston, CA
179 Kennedy family, $1 B, 30 – New York, NY
179 Stuart family, $1 B, 50 (EST.) Dairy products Seattle, WA
179 Wake family, $1 B , 10 (EST.) Distribution Naperville, IL
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