AMERICA’S DECABILLIONAIRE FAMILIES
A BILLION DOLLARS ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S SHARED ACROSS MULTIPLE GENERATIONS. SO WE’RE UPPING THE ANTE. TO QUALIFY FOR THIS EDITION OF OUR SEMI-REGULAR RANKING OF THE RICHEST FAMILIES IN THE U.S., YOU NEED A NET WORTH OF AT LEAST $10 BILLION. FORTY-FIVE CLANS MAKE THE CUT, INCLUDING STORIED NAMES LIKE THE ROCKEFELLERS, HEARSTS AND HUNTS. (THEIR AGGREGATE WEALTH: $1.3 TRILLION.) BUT OTHER FAMOUS DYNASTIES—THE KENNEDYS AND GETTYS, TO NAME TWO— JUST AREN’T WEALTHY ENOUGH.
1. WALTON NET WORTH: $267 BILLION SOURCE: Walmart At least 39 family members
Despite selling roughly $22 billion of Walmart stock over the past decade— and giving $11 billion away—the seven billionaire descendants of company cofounders Sam (d. 1992) and Bud Walton (d. 1995) still own an estimated 45% of the retail giant’s shares. Sam’s eldest son, Rob, sits on Walmart’s board alongside Rob’s nephew, Steuart, and son-in-law Greg Penner, who replaced Rob as the retailer’s chairman in 2015 and as controlling owner of the NFL’s Denver Broncos in October. The family’s fortune is enhanced by the seven sports teams (including the Los Angeles Rams and British soccer powerhouse Arsenal) owned by Stan Kroenke, husband of Bud’s daughter Ann Walton Kroenke.
2. MARS $117 BILLION • Candy, pet food At least 37 members
Siblings Jacqueline and John Mars, along with the four daughters of their brother Forrest Jr. (d. 2016), own candy and pet food giant Mars. The McLean, Virginia–based company owns dozens of iconic brands, including M&Ms, Snickers, Ben’s Original rice and Pedigree dog food; it posted revenue of $47 billion in 2022. Frank Mars (d. 1934) began selling buttercream candy from his kitchen in 1911. John, now 88, was the last family member to serve as CEO, stepping down in 2001. Jacqueline’s son Stephen Badger and Forrest Jr.’s daughter Victoria sit on the board.
3. KOCH $116 BILLION • Koch Industries At least 19 members
Charles Koch, 88, took over what became the $125 billion (2022 sales) conglomerate Koch Industries when his father, Fred, died in 1967. Koch has its fingers in everything from oil refining and fiber optics to paper towels. Charles and Julia Koch, the widow of his brother David (d. 2019), both have a 42% voting stake. Siblings Bill and Frederick (d. 2020) were bought out by Charles and David in 1983, prompting two decades of litigation over the
payout (reportedly around $800 million). GOP megadonor Charles is not a Trump fan: His Stand Together nonprofit network and Koch Industries each contributed $25 million to a super PAC that endorsed Nikki Haley for president.
4. CARGILL-MACMILLAN $60.6 BILLION • Cargill Inc. At least 100 members
The extended family—which includes 21 individual billionaires—owns an estimated 88% of Cargill, the largest private company by revenue in the U.S. Founded in 1865 by W.W. Cargill as a grain storage company, the $177 billion (revenue) firm is a major player in grain, producing corn syrup, starch and livestock feed, and is involved in meatpacking and energy trading. Whitney MacMillan (d. 2020) was the last family member to serve as CEO, from 1976 to 1995.
5. JOHNSON $44.8 BILLION • Fidelity At least 12 members
Abigail Johnson, the granddaughter of Fidelity Investments founder Edward C. Johnson II (d. 1984), became CEO of the mutual fund giant in 2014 and chairman two years later. Under her leadership, Fidelity’s assets have ballooned to $4.4 trillion, from $2 trillion, while expanding sustainable funds and embracing Bitcoin. Abigail’s brother Edward IV runs investment firm Pembroke Real Estate, which is owned by Fidelity. Her father, Edward “Ned” Johnson III (d. 2022), ran the firm for four decades.
6. PRITZKER $41.6 BILLION • Hotels, investments At least 82 members
The third generation of the Hyatt Hotels dynasty boasts 10 billionaires, including Penny Pritzker, the former U.S. commerce secretary; Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, the country’s richest elected official; filmmaker Gigi Pritzker, a producer of the 2021 film The Eyes of
Tammy Faye; and Tom Pritzker, the current chairman of Hyatt Hotels. The family’s fortune dates to the 1957 purchase of one motel in Los Angeles. The Pritzkers spent years in the early 2000s suing one another over trusts before agreeing in 2005 to divide the fortune.
7. JOHNSON $38.5 BILLION • S.C. Johnson At least 70 members
Samuel Curtis Johnson bought a parquet flooring company in 1886 and two years later developed a floor wax. Today S.C. Johnson owns brands like Windex, Shout, Ziploc and Raid. The family still fully controls the $11.2 billion (estimated sales) private company. Herbert Fisk Johnson III, great-great-grandson of the founder, is chairman and CEO. His sister Helen Johnson-Leipold is chair and CEO of Johnson Outdoors, a publicly traded company that sells scuba gear, camp stoves and tents.
8. CATHY $33.6 BILLION • Chick-fil-A At least 47 members
The first family of fried chicken has come a long way since S. Truett Cathy (d. 2014) opened the first Chick-fil-A in an Atlanta shopping mall in 1967. The 3,000-plus-location chain is run by his grandson Andrew, who succeeded his dad, Dan, as CEO in 2021. The restaurants rang up $6.4 billion in 2022 sales; next year Chick-fil-A is planning to open its first overseas location, in the U.K. The chain, which has traditionally been closed on Sundays, may have to tweak its policy for new contracts with seven locations along the New York State Thruway if a proposed state law requiring that rest stops offer food seven days a week passes.
9. DUNCAN $30 BILLION • Pipelines At least 13 members
Dan Duncan (d. 2010) started oil-andgas pipeline company Enterprise Product Partners in 1968 with $10,000 and a couple partners. It has since ballooned into an enterprise that spans some 50,000 miles of pipelines and generates more than $58 billion in annual revenue. The partners are long gone, and Duncan’s fortune, which he left to his four children, has tripled since his death thanks to bountiful dividends and a soaring stock price. Randa Duncan Williams, his oldest child, has chaired the board since
2013 and is the only Duncan remaining with a role in the business. (Clockwise from top) Truett Cathy, Bubba Cathy and Dan Cathy, 2005
10. COX $26.8 BILLION • Media At least 37 members
Media giant Cox Enterprises includes Cox Communications (cable and broadband), Cox Automotive (Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Manheim) and newspapers including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Alex Taylor, the 49-year-old CEO, is the fourth generation of family members to lead the now $22.1 billion (sales) company. In July, James “Fergie” Chambers, a cousin of Taylor’s and a self-described communist, announced on social media that he had sold his shares back to the company to protest the family’s financial support of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which trains police and firefighters.
11. LAUDER $25.9 BILLION • Estée Lauder At least 20 members
The Lauders have lost $16.5 billion over the past 12 months as shares of their beauty conglomerate have plunged 50%. The stock reached a six-year low after the company delivered worse-than-expected financial results in November due to weak performance in Asia. The business is currently run by nonfamily member CEO Fabrizio Freda, but at least six of the children and grandchildren of Estée Lauder, who founded the business in 1946, hold positions there, including five board seats.
12. HUNT $24.8 BILLION • Oil More than 100 members
Family patriarch and oil wildcatter H.L. Hunt (d. 1974) was said to be the real-life inspiration for J.R. Ewing on the 1970s and ’80s megahit TV series Dallas. Trusts for the eldest of his 14 children, Margaret (d. 2007) and H.L. Hunt III (d. 2005), sold Hunt Petroleum to XTO Energy in 2008 for $4.2 billion in cash and stock. Sons Ray Lee and W. Herbert own Hunt Oil and Petro-Hunt, respectively. The children of H.L.’s son Lamar (d. 2006) own the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.
13. NEWHOUSE $24.1 BILLION Condé Nast, newspapers At least 24 members
Brothers Donald and Samuel “Si” Newhouse Jr. (d. 2017) inherited Vogue and Vanity Fair publisher Condé Nast and its parent, Advance Publications, from their father, Sam Newhouse (d. 1979),
who started the business in 1922 when he bought Staten Island’s daily newspaper. Si oversaw the magazine business, acquiring prestige publications such as Wired, GQ and The New Yorker, while Donald, now 94 and retired, ran the newspaper division starting in 1979. Donald’s sons Steven and Michael are co-presidents of Advance, while his cousin Jonathan is chairman of Condé Nast. Advance also owns stakes in social news site Reddit and TV and film outfit Warner Bros. Discovery.
14. HEARST $22.4 BILLION • Hearst Corp. At least 67 members
William Randolph Hearst, son of a wealthy miner, bought the San Francisco Examiner in 1887 when he was 23 and went on to acquire many more publications, including the precursor to Good Housekeeping. He grew reclusive as he got older and was the inspiration for the title character in Orson Welles’ 1941 celluloid masterpiece Citizen Kane. Today the $11.8 billion (2022 revenue) family-owned Hearst Corp. is chaired by his grandson William R. Hearst II and owns 200 magazines, 76 newspapers, 35 TV stations and ratings firm Fitch, in addition to stakes in cable TV networks A&E, ESPN and Lifetime, plus other businesses.
15. BUSCH $20 BILLION • Anheuser-Busch At least 21 members
Nearly 130 years after the launch of brewer Anheuser-Busch, the family was forced to sell its remaining stake in a hostile takeover by In Bev in 2008. The family members have mostly gone their own ways since: Billy Busch, the great-grandson of Budweiser founder Adolphus Busch, operates his own craft brewery and is the author of the recent Family Reins: The Extraordinary Rise and Epic Fall of an American Dynasty; his son August and daughter Haley own three hotels in South Florida; and their cousin Steven makes Walker’s Cay Bourbon. Five others operate Grant’s Farm, an animal park once home to Ulysses S. Grant that has been in the Busch family since 1903.
16. REYES $19.9 BILLION • Food & beer distribution At least 39 members
Brothers Jude and Christopher and their father, Joseph (d. 2021), purchased a small South Carolina beer distributor in 1976 for $740,000. As they grew their business, Reyes Holdings, they acquired food distributor Martin Brower; McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A are clients. Their Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling distributes soda across the Midwest and the West Coast. Chris and Jude are majority owners and co-chair the $40 billion (sales) company. Four other brothers work for the business, including Duke, who is CEO.
17. SMITH $19.8 BILLION • Tools, banking At least 165 members
Byron L. Smith (d. 1914) founded Northern Trust in 1889 as a bank for wealthy Chicagoans. He later placed an ad looking to invest in a manufacturing business. A group of investors responded, and together they founded industrial equipment maker Illinois Tool Works in 1912. The family still owns at least 9% of publicly traded Illinois Tool Works (worth $7 billion) and reports holding 1% of Northern Trust’s shares (worth $200 million). The only family member still involved is Smith’s greatgreat-grandson, David B. Smith Jr., who sits on the boards of both companies.
18. MILLSTONE-WINTERHEYMAN $19.2 BILLION • Roofing, chemicals At least 17 members
David Millstone and David Winter are co-CEOs of Standard Industries, an $11 billion (2022 revenue) industrial conglomerate that includes roofing company GAF and specialty chemicals firm W.R. Grace, which it acquired in 2021 for $7 billion. The two Davids also oversee $4.4 billion (assets under management) Standard Investments, which buys shares in public companies and invests in startups. The business dates to 1983, when corporate raider Sam Heyman (d. 2009) won a proxy battle for GAF. His sons-in-law Millstone and Winter became co-CEOs in 2009.
19. TAYLOR $19 BILLION • Enterprise Rent-A-Car 14 members
Jack Taylor (d. 2016) founded what became Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 1957 after serving on the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier in World War II. His son Andy succeeded him as CEO from 1991 to 2013 and bought both National and Alamo. Andy’s daughter Chrissy Taylor, now 47, became CEO in 2020. She renamed the $35 billion (fiscal 2023 revenue) business Enterprise Mobility in October. Jack’s granddaughter Carolyn Kindle is CEO of St. Louis City SC, the first Major League Soccer team that’s majority female-owned.
20. BUTT $18.8 BILLION • Supermarkets At least 56 members
Revenue at H-E-B, the grocery chain with a cult following and 430 stores in Texas and Mexico, hit $46.3 billion in fiscal year 2023, up 12% from 2022. Florence Butt founded H-E-B in 1905, after her husband was diagnosed with tuberculosis and could no longer work. Her son Howard Butt took over in the 1920s and expanded throughout Texas. Charles, Howard’s son, ran the company from 1971 to 2021, when he handed the CEO job to nephew Howard Butt III. The family owns an estimated 90% of the company; employees own the rest.
21. ZIFF $18.5 BILLION • Publishing, investments At least 15 members
The three billionaire grandchildren of William Bernard Ziff Sr. (d. 1953), cofounder of enthusiast-magazine publisher Ziff Davis (best known for such titles as Car and Driver and PC magazine), spun proceeds from its $1.4 billion 1994 sale into a high-performing investing group. After making joint financial decisions for two decades, the Ziffs shut down the hedge fund within their family office, Ziff Brothers Investments, in 2014. Hedge fund Och-Ziff, which they seeded in 1994 and went public in 2007, was later rebranded as Sculptor Capital Management and bought by Rithm Capital in November for $720 million.
22. DU PONT $18.1 BILLION • DuPont At least 3,500 members
What started as a gunpowder manufacturer founded by French-American chemist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont in 1802 is now one of the U.S.’ largest chemical companies. DuPont de Nemours, based in Wilmington, Delaware, generated $13 billion in sales in 2022. Thère I. du Pont, son of former Delaware governor Pete du Pont (d. 2021), is the seventh generation in leadership at DuPont and the only family member on the board. He is also president of the family’s charitable Longwood Foundation.
23. DORRANCE $17 BILLION • Campbell Soup At least 87 members
It has been a mixed 155th year for the soup kings. Campbell Soup Co. reported $9.4 billion in fiscal 2023 revenue, up 9% from the prior year, but its share price is down more than 20% from last April as profits suffer. The Dorrance family owns 38% of the company, which originated in 1869 with condensed soup inventor John T. Dorrance (d. 1930). Three family members are on the board: Dorrance’s granddaughter Mary Alice Malone, her cousin Archbold van Beuren and her nephew Bennett Dorrance Jr.
24. BROWN $16.5 BILLION • Jack Daniel’s At least 25 members
Brown-Forman, which was founded in Louisville, Kentucky, by George Garvin Brown in 1870, is best known for its
whiskey. Brands include Jack Daniel’s, Old Forester and Woodford Reserve. It also owns Tequila Herradura, Fords Gin and Diplomático Rum, which it bought in January 2023 for $725 million. The Brown family owns an estimated 50% of the publicly traded firm. Campbell Brown, a great-great-grandson of the founder, is chairman. Three other Browns are board members.
25. KOHLER
$16.2 BILLION • Toilets, faucets
At least 20 members
Iconic faucet and toilet maker Kohler traces its roots to 1873 and the Sheboygan Union Iron & Steel Foundry. John Michael Kohler and a partner bought it and began making cast iron farm implements; the famed bathroom line began when Kohler coated a water trough in enamel, and voilà: a bathtub. Today the company also sells furniture, ceramic tiles, generators and engines. Kohler owns two golf courses in Wisconsin and the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews, Scotland. Herbert Kohler Jr. (d. 2022) and sister Ruth (d. 2020), grandchildren of the founder, reportedly bought out 300 shareholders in 1998 to consolidate ownership in their branch of the family. Herbert’s son David is the fourth generation of family CEOs.
26. JOHNSON
$16 BILLION
Johnson & Johnson, New York Jets
At least 8 members
The New York Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl in 55 years, but the team has been a great investment for the family who made their money from pharma giant Johnson & Johnson. Robert “Woody” Johnson IV, America’s ambassador to the U.K. under President Trump, led the family’s purchase of the NFL team in 2000 for $635 million. Today, the franchise is worth an estimated $5.6 billion (net of debt). Woody’s brother Christopher, the last living of his five siblings, is the Jets’ vice-chairman.
27. (tie) MEIJER
$15.9 BILLION • Supermarkets
At least 18 members
Hendrik Meijer opened his first grocery store in Michigan in 1934. He and son Frederik pioneered the supercenter in 1962 with the opening of Thrifty Acres in Grand Rapids, which combined a department store and grocer under one (very large) roof. The company currently operates more than 240 stores throughout the Midwest. Frederik’s sons Hank and Doug ran the company as co-chairs from 1990 until 2017. Hank is now executive chairman; Doug and a third brother, Mark, serve on the board. Hank’s son Peter was elected to Congress from Michigan in 2020. After voting to impeach Donald Trump the following year, he lost the Republican primary in 2022. He’s now running for Senate.
27. (tie) MARRIOTT
$15.9 BILLION • Hotels
At least 100 members
J.W. Marriott (d. 1985) got into lodging in 1957 when he opened the world’s largest “motor hotel” in Arlington, Virginia. My, how it’s grown: Marriott International, in which the devout Mormon family still owns a 16% stake, now operates nearly 8,700 properties under 30-plus names, including Westin, Sheraton, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis. J.W.’s grandson, David, the son of longtime CEO Bill, has been chairman since 2022. David’s brother, J.W. III (John), sued his family in 2017, alleging his inheritance was cut for religious reasons after he divorced his wife. The Marriotts denied it and the matter was quietly settled out of court.
27. (tie) STRYKER
$15.9 BILLION • Medical equipment
At least 11 members
Dr. Homer Stryker (d. 1980), an orthopedic surgeon who invented a hospital bed that enabled patients to be repositioned, founded Stryker Corp. in 1941. The company has since grown into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of medical equipment and orthopedic implants, with 2022 sales of $18.4 billion. Homer’s granddaughter Ronda Stryker sits on the board and, with her siblings, owns an estimated 10% of the company. Stryker shares have jumped 36% since 2020 amid an increase in orthopedic procedures. Ronda and her husband are giving $100 million to Spelman College, the largest gift ever to a historically Black school.
30. CROWN
$14.7 BILLION • Defense, investments
At least 24 members
High school dropout Henry Crown
(d. 1990) founded a gravel, coal and lime supply company in 1919 that merged with General Dynamics in 1959; he joined the board the following year. He was forced out of General Dynamics in the mid-’60s but by 1970 was the defense firm’s controlling shareholder.
His descendants still own 10% of General Dynamics (worth $7.1 billion), plus a stake in JPMorgan; they also own or co-own 20 ski resorts (including Aspen in Colorado and Utah’s Deer Valley). James Crown, CEO of Henry Crown & Co. and a grandson of the patriarch, died in a car accident at an Aspen racetrack last July on his 70th birthday.
31. HASLAM
$14.4 BILLION
Truck stops, Cleveland Browns
At least 33 members
Brothers Jimmy and Bill Haslam sold their remaining 20% stake in roadside truck stop company Pilot Flying J, founded by their father in 1958, to Berkshire Hathaway in January. The deal marked the end of a legal dispute in which each party accused the other of manipulating the company’s accounting to get a better price. The family sold 39% of Pilot to Berkshire in 2017 for $2.8 billion, and 41% in January 2023 for $8.2 billion. Jimmy and his wife own the NFL’s Cleveland Browns; Bill, a former governor of Tennessee, acquired a minority stake in the Nashville Predators pro hockey team in 2023.
32. (tie) CHAO
$14.2 BILLION
Chemicals, building products
At least 21 members
T.T. Chao (d. 2008) moved his family from Taiwan to the U.S. and founded the Houston-based petrochemical and building products concern now
known as Westlake Corporation in 1986. The company is a major manufacturer of PVC pipes for plumbing and is one of North America’s largest makers of a plastic used to make bags and packaging. The family owns a 73% stake worth $12.8 billion. Sons James and Albert have served as chairman and CEO, respectively, since 2004.
32. (tie) ROLLINS
$14.2 BILLION • Orkin pest control
At least 10 members
Sons of a Depression-era farmer, Wayne (d. 1991) and John (d. 2000) escaped a lifetime of “plowin’ that mule” after making an early fortune with regional radio stations. The brothers hit it big when they bought Orkin in 1964 for $62 million. The national bug-killing chain is the cornerstone of the family’s publicly traded Rollins Inc. Wayne’s son Gary stepped down as CEO in 2023 but remains chairman. In September, the family unloaded a 9% stake for more than $1.5 billion pretax. It still owns nearly 40% of the $21 billion (market cap) company. A nine-year family feud over cash allocations was finally settled in 2019.
34. MELLON
$14.1 BILLION • Banking
At least 200 members
Judge Thomas Mellon (d. 1908) was an Irish immigrant who bought up Pittsburgh real estate with the income from his legal career. He opened T. Mellon & Sons Bank in 1869. His son Andrew Mellon (d. 1937) supersized the family’s coffers by investing in companies that became Alcoa and Gulf Oil. He served as U.S. Treasury secretary from 1921 to 1932. An avid art collector, Andrew founded the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and gave hundreds of works to it. Later generations have also given significant portions of their fortune to charitable foundations (which Forbes does not count toward the family’s net worth). Last year, Republican megadonor Timothy Mellon, Andrew’s grandson, gave $5 million to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign.
35. HUGHES
$13.8 BILLION • Self-storage
At least 12 members
Nearly 2 million Americans have accumulated so much stuff that they can’t fit it all in their homes. Public Storage, cofounded by B. Wayne Hughes Sr. (d. 2021), has capitalized on such overconsumption with 3,000 locations in 40 states and eight countries for people to stash their junk. Together Wayne’s two children, Tamara Gustavson (a Public Storage board member) and B. Wayne Hughes Jr., own an estimated 13% of the $50 billion (market capitalization) company. The family owns Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, which, with others, owned the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic.
36. BASS
$13.3 BILLION • Oil, investments
At least 20 members
The four Bass brothers—Sid, Edward, Robert and Lee—each inherited a small fortune from their uncle, oil tycoon Sid Richardson, in 1959. They have turned that inheritance into billions by investing in hedge funds, real estate and ExxonMobil stock. Robert has helped launch investment shops including Oak Hill Advisors; Ed owns Sundance Square, a 37-block area of downtown Fort Worth; Lee has Texas cattle ranches. The art collection of Sid’s late wife, Anne, which included works by Rothko and Monet, brought in $363 million at auction in 2022.
37. FARMER
$12.5 BILLION • Uniforms
Nearly 40 members
During the Great Depression, out-ofwork circus performers Doc and Amelia Farmer collected rags, cleaned them up and resold them. From those humble beginnings, their grandson Dick Farmer (d. 2021) turned the family company into Cintas, a leader in workplace uniform rentals and commercial cleaning, which he ran as CEO and then chairman for nearly 40 years. His son Scott is now chairman of the $8.8 billion (2023 fiscal revenue) firm, which has more than 1 million customers and supplies uniforms for everyone from casino pit bosses to swimming pool attendants and provides cleaning services and supplies for restrooms and more. The family has pledged at least $70 million to Scott and Dick’s alma mater, Miami University in Ohio, whose Farmer School of Business opened in 2009.
38. SIMON
$11.6 BILLION • Shopping malls
At least 43 members
Simon Property Group, started in 1960 by Herb Simon and his brother Melvin (d. 2009), is one of the nation’s biggest shopping mall landlords, with stakes in 163 malls and outlets, as well as dozens of other properties across the country. The company, which is run by Melvin’s son David, bounced back from the pandemic and is now investing about $1.5 billion to add apartments and hotels to its portfolio. Herb recently sold 15% of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers to fellow billionaire Steven Rales for an estimated $360 million; he still owns 80% of the franchise.
39. JENKINS
$11.2 BILLION • Supermarkets
At least 29 members
Publix Super Markets is the largest employee-owned firm in the country, with 250,000 staffers who, with former employees, collectively own 80% of the company. (The Jenkins family owns the rest.) Revenue in 2022 hit $54.5 billion, up 13.6% from the prior year. William E. “Ed” Crenshaw, a grandson of the founder, chairs the business; two other family members—Jennifer Jenkins and Howard Jenkins—also serve on the board. George Jenkins
(d. 1996) founded Publix in 1930 after leaving rival Piggly Wiggly. There are 1,360 Publix stores in eight southeastern states.
40. SIMPLOT
$11.1 BILLION • Agribusiness
At least 23 members
Spud king J.R. Simplot (d. 2008), an eighth-grade dropout, created the first commercially viable frozen French fries in the 1940s. That led to a handshake agreement with Ray Kroc to supplyfries to McDonald’s—a deal still going strong 57 years later. The family-owned J.R. Simplot Co. also sells fertilizers, demand for which has increased amid supply shortages from Ukraine and Russia. J.R.’s son Scott is chairman; his daughter Gay sits on the board.
41. JOHNSON
$10.5 BILLION • Mutual funds
At least 26 members
Rupert Johnson (d. 1989) founded Franklin Resources in 1947. Together his sons Charles and Rupert Jr. ran the mutual fund giant (also known as Franklin Templeton) for nearly half a century. Charles, now 91, retired as chairman in 2013; at 83, Rupert Jr. remains vice chairman. Charles’ daughter Jenny Johnson is the current CEO; his son Greg chairs the publicly traded company, which has over
$1.4 trillion in assets under management. Greg also chairs Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants, of which the family owns an estimated 26%.
42. ROCKEFELLER
$10.3 BILLION • Oil, investments
At least 200 members
The descendants of John D. Rockefeller— the founder of Standard Oil and America’s first billionaire—number at least 200. Some of the family’s money is managed by Rockefeller Capital Management, which is majority-owned by billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s hedge fund,
Viking Global Management, and by a Rockefeller family trust and Canada’s billionaire Desmarais family. Rockefeller philanthropy runs deep. John D. founded the University of Chicago in 1890 and medical powerhouse Rockefeller University 11 years later. The Rockefeller Foundation, which gives away some $175 million a year, has about $5.3 billion in net assets.
43. TISCH
$10.1 BILLION • Diversified
At least 47 members
The Tisches have deep roots in New York City, where their conglomerate, Loews Corp. (insurance, hotels, energy, packaging), is based. The founders, brothers Bob (d. 2005) and Larry (d. 2003), were born in Brooklyn. Bob was chairman of the city’ visitors bureau, which helped popularize the “Big Apple” nickname with a 1970s ad campaign. NYU’s Tisch School of Arts is named after them; the family owns 50% of the NFL’s
New York Giants, a stake purchased for $75 million in 1991 that is now worth an estimated $3.2 billion (net of debt). Larry’s son James is CEO of Loews;
Bob’s son Jonathan is co-chairman.
44. (tie) BECHTEL
$10 BILLION • Construction, engineering
At least 8 members
In 2022, the family’s engineering giant, Bechtel, won a $3 billion 10-year contract from the federal Department of Energy to operate the country’s sole deep underground nuclear waste repository in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Founded in 1898 by Warren A. Bechtel, the company is known for helping build some of the world’s largest and most technically complex infrastructure projects, including the Hoover Dam and the Channel Tunnel. Fifth-generation heir Brendan Bechtel has been chief executive since 2016.
44. (tie) GLAZER
$10 BILLION • Real estate, sports teams
29 members
The six kids of shopping mall magnate Malcom Glazer (d. 2014), including Manchester United co-chairmen Avram and Joel, sold a quarter of their 68% stake in the English soccer club to British chemicals billionaire Jim Ratcliffe in December. The deal, valuing Man U at $5.4 billion (net of debt), was cheered by fans who chafed at American ownership since Malcolm’s debt-fueled takeover of the team for $1.4 billion in 2005. The Glazer siblings still own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers; their father acquired the franchise for $192 million in 1995, and it’s now worth an estimated $4 billion (net of debt).
METHODOLOGY: We’ve excluded individual billionaires (and their widows, in certain cases) who are credited with the entire family fortune and appear on The Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. The number of family members is an estimate of the living descendants (and their spouses) of the fortune’s founder. Estimated fortunes were calculated using stock prices from January 16, 2024.