Combined Fortune of World’s Wealthiest Families Increased 22 Percent in the Last Year

Last names like Walton, Mars, Koch and Hermes are only part of the list of the world's richest families

Members of the Walton family (L-R) Rob, Alice, and Jim speak during the annual Walmart shareholders meeting event in Fayetteville, Ark., on June 1, 2018. (Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images)

By Entrepreneur Staff

Right now, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bernard Arnault dominate the ranking of the world’s great billionaires. However, if we talk about entire families, the list changes completely. As reported by Bloomberg, the combined fortune of the 25 richest families of the world increased 22 percent last year and the new list is led by the Waltons, owners of Walmart, the largest retail chain more globally.

The agency, which specializes in monitoring the great fortunes of the planet, estimates that the Walton family has a fortune of $238.2 billion. This equates to the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries like Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Paraguay, together.

Entrepreneur Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962 and today his descendants hold 48 percent of the shares of the retail and wholesale giant. The chain has more than 10,500 stores around the world, which generate revenues estimated at $559 billion a year.

The Bloomberg ranking includes a total of 25 families, whose combined wealth is estimated at about $1.7 trillion. Since August 2020, these families together have added $312 billion to their fortunes, up 22 percent from the previous year.

These are the richest families in the world:

1. The Walton family, owner of the Walmart, Sam’s Club, Bodega Aurrera, and Superama stores, among others. Fortune: $238.2 billion.

2. The Mars family, owners of the Mars food manufacturer that includes brands such as Milky Way, M & M’s, Skittles, Snickers, Royal Canin, Whiskas, and Pedigree. Fortune: $141.9 billion.

3. Koch family, owners of the American petrochemical company Koch Industries. Fortune: $124.4 billion.

4. Hermes family, owners of the French fashion house Hermes, specialized in luxury clothing, accessories, and watches. Fortune: $111.6 billion.

5. Al Saud family, the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Fortune: $100 billion.

6. Ambani family, owners of the Indian oil refining and production holding company Reliance Industries. Fortune: $93.7 billion.

7. Wertheimer family, owns the French fashion house Chanel. Fortune: $61.8 billion.

8. Johnson family, owner of the U.S. asset management company Fidelity Investments. Fortune: $61.2 billion.

9. Thomson family, owners of the Thomson Reuters media company. Fortune: $61.1 billion.

10. Boehringer family, owners of the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. Fortune: $59.2 billion.

The Lauder family, of luxury cosmetics firm Estée Lauder, debuted on the list at No. 13 with $49.3 billion.

The Quant family, which owns the carmaker BMW, ranked 16th with $42.3 billion, while the Pritzkers, owners of the Hyatt hotel chain, came in at 23rd with a net worth of $35.3 billion.

The list is completed with the Ferrero chocolate family ($33.8 billion) and the Johnsons, owners of the giant of products for the home SC Johnson.