The richest families in the world are families that have wealth passed down from generation to generation. They generally live in a completely different world of their own, where poverty, struggle, and problems of society do not exist. These families have big, powerful names that are tied to successful companies and brands that serve as not just a source of their wealth, but also as icons of who they are, and the importance that they carry.

The richest families almost always live in the richest countries because their net worth is usually credited to the valuation of their companies, and the valuation of their companies is always domiciled in the local currency of their countries. 

Without any further ado, join us as we find out who they are, and how they became so rich!

Top 10 Richest Families in The World 2020

1. The Walton Family

    • Net Worth: $190.5 Billion
    • Country: United State of America
The Walton Family

You look everywhere; you see supermarkets all over the place. This would not have been possible if not because of the relentless effort of Sam Walton to open the first store of Walmart in the early 1960s. Today, all supermarkets in the World owes its existence to one of the largest supermarkets in the World, Walmart. 

Sam Walton’s descendants are the richest people in America and in the whole wide world. They have an estimated wealth of about $190.5 billion dollars in the family pool. Although their ranking drops significantly when they are ranked as individuals because Jim and Alice Walton each have a little over $44 billion. Anyway, they inherited Walmart which is the biggest supermarket chain on the face of the globe, from their father Sam Walton who established the company in 1962. As of today, the company operates 12,000 retail stores all over the world, and 5362 stores in the United States.

Walmart has traditionally targeted small towns where they open branches and wow the inhabitants with low prices. The company continues in that tradition today, intentionally staying clear of New York City. 

This company was also the pioneer of the setting up of many franchise stores in many small towns and with that, it has given the industry a new face. In Walmart, the Warton Family holds a 54% share in the total share, thereby making them be the richest family in the World.

2. The Mars Family

    • Net Worth: $126.5 Billion
    • Country: United State

It will be rare to mention Mars Candy in the United State and still get a few responses. This is due to the popularity the company has built for itself over the years. The Mars family are the people behind the biggest candy making giants in the world. M&M and Mars chocolate bars are the biggest selling sweet brands in the world.

Frank Mars founded the company many years ago, and now his grandchildren Jacqueline and John Mars run the company, and together have an estimated wealth of about $126.5 billion dollars. Their children now have positions in the company, which means that in a few years’ time Jacqueline and John will probably retire, leaving the company in the hands of the Fourth generation of Mars family members.

As old as the company is (founded in 1911 by Franklin Mars), the company still came second in our ranking! The Mars Family is well known for its impressive role in establishing a lobby that requests for the abolishment of estate taxing. The members of the family are as secretive as you will ever imagine! 

3. The Koch Family

    • Net Worth: $99 Billion
    • Country: United States

Here comes the engineering family! Koch Industries, founded by an engineer called Fred Koch in 1940, is one of the largest privately-owned companies in the USA. The industry has diverse fields including commodity trading, chemicals, finance, etc. even though the industry actually started out as an oil and refining company. It will be effortless to mention Koch Industries without mentioning Charles Koch and David Koch who are among the major pioneers of the company.

Charles and David Koch have between them about $124.5 billion dollars. That huge fortune came from the efforts of their father who built an oil business and then handed it to them. The Koch brothers have themselves become big names in the world of corporate finance, politics, and even for their philanthropy.

4. The House of Saud

    • Net Worth: $100 Billion
    • Country: Saudi Arabia

For over a hundred years, around the eighteen century, the Al-Saud Family has ruled over Saudi Arabia without any compromise.

World Wealthiest Families

What do they do that fetch them money? Al-Saud family usually involve themselves in one of the richest business in the World Today-Oil Business. Having their head as King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the family controls a lot of oil reserves today making the second richest family in the World.

The family controls all of the oil-rich Saudi Arabia. The family’s fortune stands at about 100 billion dollars and is traced to the payments from the state treasury, Saudi Aramco; which is one of the world’s biggest oil companies in terms of profits. To be fair, the House of Saud could be a lot richer than the official figure because there are over 15,000 members of this family, and many of them have established companies of their own, and regularly receive government contracts.

5. Wertheimer Family

    • Net Worth: $57.6 Billion
    • Country: France

The Wertheimer family is the first French family to make the list, and guess what they are into fashion! Yes, we all know how fashionable the French can be, and the Wertheimers have profited most from this obsession with fashion.   Alan and Gerhard Wertheimer have between them an estimated net worth of $57.6 billion dollars, which is money generated from their grandfather’s company Chanel. They make unique fashion items such as the time tested cash cow The Little Black Dress, and the famous perfume Chanel No 5.

6. Dumas Family

    • Net Worth: $53.1 Billion
    • Country: France

Alex and Pierre- Alexis Dumas are regents of another French family that has profited immensely from the fashion craze. They sit at the helm of famous French fashion brand Hermes. They make signature scarves, neckties, perfumes, handbags, and other fashion items. The family has a net worth of about $53.1 billion dollars, and the company is making inroads into the technology sector as well, with a signature watch made by the Apple Company which bears the Hermes brand. 

7. Van Damme, De Spoelberch, and De Mevius Families

    • Net Worth: $53 Billion
    • Country: Belgium

The Van Damme, De Spoelberch, and De Mevius families are 3 distinct clans that tied their fortunes together a long time ago. They are Belgian families, and guess what they make: beer! Belgian beer is agreed to be the best beer in the world, and these are some of the biggest names in the beer-making industry of Belgium. Between them, they have a history of about 500 years in the business, so they are not upstarts. Today, they run the joint companies of Anheuser-Busch Inbev and have a fortune of about $53 billion dollars to their names. They are also the richest families in Belgium.

8. Boehringer, Von Baumbach Families

    • Net Worth: $51 Billion
    • Country: Germany

Boehringer and Von Baumbach’s families are the people behind the Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceutical company of Germany. They have an estimated wealth of about $51 billion dollars between them, and over 130 years of business history. They are some of the most powerful people in Europe and have several billion in patents and research facilities which are expected to add to their fortunes as many new drugs are expected to enter the market in the next few years. We find this surprising because the Germans are known primarily for their machines, and so we expected an engineering family to be the richest in Germany.

9. Mukesh and Anil Ambani

    • Net Worth: $50.4 Billion
    • Country: India

The Ambani brothers fly the flag of India in this list. They have between them an estimated net worth of $50.4 billion dollars, which challenges the notion that India is a poor country. The brothers sit at the helm of Reliance Industries which is an Indian industrial conglomerate. The company was founded by their father in 1957. The company has interests in Oil refining, petrochemicals, textiles, telecommunications, asset management, entertainment, and finance. Anil’s boy Anmol Ambani is in charge of Reliance Capital.

10. Cargill, Macmillian Families

    • Net Worth: $42.9 Billion
    • Country: USA

The Cargill and Macmillian Families are the people behind Cargill Incorporated which is an American commodity giant and currently the tenth richest families in the world.

The family is known for two reasons: the 88% share they hold in Cargill Inc. and the 14 Billionaires that they have produced over the years. Today, Cargill Inc. is the largest private company in the US and focuses on crops, foods, and other trade commodities. Do you know the company actually started as a grain storage company?! The company was founded in Iowa more than 150 years ago and still is an agriculture and food processing company that also deals in products and services that are useful in the food processing industry. The company has moved to Minneapolis, and even though it is a huge company, it is still privately held. The Cargill and Macmillian families have between them $42.9 billion dollars to their names, and that makes them one of the richest families in America. 

Conclusion On The Wealthiest Families In The World:

Most of the world’s wealth practically rotates around these few families that make up less than 1 percent of the population of their countries. They own all the companies and best real estate- a thing that we can attribute to them having forebears who worked hard and did not spend all their earnings; but rather saved up and invested as much as possible.

Some make see this article as a naked celebration of wealth at a time of great economic uncertainty when the middle-class are losing their status, and poor are losing their chances of survival, but no, let us learn from them the importance of saving and investing a portion of our earnings in order to help make life better for our children and their children as well.  

Top 10 Richest Families in The World 2020 – Have you ever imagine being born into one of the richest families in the World? Then, all the comforts of life will be at your command. It sure looks like a world without any financial difficulties even though money cannot solve all the problems. But, have you also ever wonder how such families were able to maintain such grounds? If your answer is no, let me tell you, these families have been faced with lots of troughs and crests- Many problems. These families do even more of the work that we do in order to maintain their status! Their finances will run down in no time if they should fail to maintain such status. 

Despite the current state of the World in terms of poverty, some out of these families are dwelling in the river of fortune without even knowing what others are going through. Even though there are some within them that are actually more into philanthropic activity.

Those are the top 10 Wealthiest Families in the World. I hope you find the article helpful?  

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