/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fdaaae0fbb84b9aa585c596/0x0.jpg)
Above, Sam and Helen Walton in a 1962 photo with their four children: Alice, John, Rob and Jim.
Forbes’ definitive ranking of the nation’s 50 wealthiest clans includes the heirs to some of the country’s best known brands: Campbell’s Soup, Jack Daniel’s, Walmart and Chick-fil-A.
It’s been a good half-decade for the wealthiest families in America. Thanks to soaring markets, the 50 clans on Forbes’ latest ranking of America’s Richest Families are worth a collective $1.2 trillion—up about 30% from $916 billion in 2015. These families are all worth at least $7.3 billion, up from $6 billion five years ago, the last time we ranked that many.
The Waltons remain the richest. The descendants of Walmart founders Sam Walton (d. 1992) and Bud Walton (d. 1995) own about half of the retailing giant’s stock, which generates more than $700 million in dividend income for the family every year. They’re followed by the Kochs, who own 84% of Koch Industries, which does $115 billion in revenues from businesses that include pipelines, chemicals, Dixie cups and Stainmaster carpet. One of the few families whose fortunes fell since 2015: the Sacklers, owners of opioid producer Purdue Pharma—which has been sued by attorneys general in nearly every U.S. state for the company’s alleged role in the opioid crisis
Other notable products produced by these ultra-rich families include: M&Ms and Pedigree pet food (Mars family) Jack Daniel’s whiskey (Brown family), Campbell’s Soup (Dorrance family) and Gap clothing (Fisher family). Both the Simplot and Reyes families are key food suppliers to McDonald’s. While the Du Ponts and Rockefellers are on the list, some of America’s most storied dynasties—like Astor, Vanderbilt and Ford—don’t make the cut, their fortunes having largely dissipated over multiple generations.
Those who have made their fortunes in the modern era, amassing enormous wealth in five decades or less include the Hughes family, who control self-storage giant Public Storage; the Cathys, owners of Chick-fil-A; and the Chaos, of Westlake Chemical, one of the country’s largest producers of low-density polyethylene, used for milk cartons and other food packaging. The only Asian-Americans and nonwhites to make these ranks—just one sign of a racial wealth gap in the country—the Chaos trace their fortune in the U.S. to the 1980s, when T.T. Chao (d. 2008) moved his family from Taiwan to this country and founded Westlake Chemical.
Of course, just because these families are super rich doesn’t mean they’re happy. Six of the clans on this year’s list have gone through very bitter—and very public—family feuds, including legal battles over trust funds, sham adoptions and even murder accusations.
Here is Forbes’ definitive ranking of the 50 richest families in America. Up/down is compared to their net worth in 2015. (See below the list for the full methodology.)
• Worth: $247 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Walmart
• Worth: $100 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: diversified
Siblings Jacqueline Mars and John Mars and their late brother Forrest Jr. (d. 2016) inherited stakes in the candy company founded by their grandfather Frank Mars in 1911. Family-owned Mars Inc., known for M&Ms and Snickers, also sells pet food and provides pet care. The company has $35 billion in annual revenues.
JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images (right)
• Worth: $94 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: candy
• Worth: $47 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Cargill Inc.
• Worth: $40 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Estee Lauder
• Worth: $37 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: cleaning products
• Worth: $36 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: money management
• Worth: $34.5 billion
• Change: EVEN
• Origin of Wealth: media
Third generation members of the powerful Chicago-bred Pritzker clan: From left Tom (chair of Hyatt Hotels), John (founder, Geolo Capital), Penny (former U.S. Commerce Secretary) Tony (managing partner, Pritzker Group) and J.B. (governor of Illinois).
• Worth: $32.5 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Hotels, investments
• Worth: $30 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: magazines, newspapers
• Worth: $22 billion
• Change: DOWN
• Origin of Wealth: pipelines
• Worth: $21 billion
• Change: DOWN
• Origin of Wealth: Hearst Corp.
• Worth: $20.4 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: liquor
• Worth: $18.5 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: diversified
• Worth: $17.8 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: supermarkets
August Busch Sr. (left) and his great grandson August Busch IV, who ran beer giant Anheuser-Busch from 2006 until its 2008 sale to InBev of Belgium.
Corbis-getty Images; Jeff Robertson-AP
• Worth: $17.6 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Anheuser -Busch
• Worth: $16 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: DuPont
• Worth: $15.5 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: oil
The Dorrance family inherited nearly half of Campbell’s Soup; Bennett Dorrance (left) serves on the board. Charlotte Colket Weber (right) was a board member until 2014.
Bobby Bank/WireIma/Getty Images; colket-webe/Newscom
• Worth: $15 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Campbell Soup Co.
• Worth: $15 billion
• Change: EVEN
• Origin of Wealth: publishing
S. Truett Cathy (center) founded fast-food chain Chick-fil-A in Atlanta in 1967; today it’s run by his sons Dan and Bubba Cathy.
Robin Nelson/Zuma/Newscom
• Worth: $14.2 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Chick-fil-A
• Worth: $14 billion
• Change: UP
• Owner: Jerry Jones
• Origin of Wealth: medical equipment
• Worth: $13.2 billion
• Change: NEW
• Origin of Wealth: real estate
• Worth: $13.1 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Orkin pest control
• Worth: $12.4 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: wine, liquor
• Worth: $12 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: food & beer distribution
• Worth: $11.7 billion
• Change: NEW
• Origin of Wealth: plumbing products, sinks
• Worth: $11.5 billion
• Change: EVEN
• Origin of Wealth: banking
• Worth: $11.3 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: tools, banking
• Worth: $10.8 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: oil, investments
Raymond & Beverly Sackler. Raymond (d. 2017) and brothers Mortimer (d. 2010) and Arthur (d. 1987) built up Purdue Pharma, which created blockbuster opioid pain drug OxyContin. Overwhelmed by lawsuits, Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy in 2019.
redux
• Worth: $10.8 billion
• Change: DOWN
• Origin of Wealth: pain medicines
• Worth: $10.7 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Johnson & Johnson
Brothers and hotel tycoons Bill (left) and Richard Marriott. Their father opened his first hotel in 1957. Bill chairs Marriott International; Richard chairs Host Hotels & Resorts.
Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post/Getty Images; Charles Esshekamn/Getty Images
• Worth: $10.4 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: hotels
• Worth: $10.2 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: investments
Worth: $10.2 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Public Storage Inc.
• Worth: $10.1 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: trucks
• Worth: $9 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: U-Haul
• Worth: $8.9 billion
• Change: DOWN
• Origin of Wealth: The Gap
• Worth: $8.8 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Publix Super Markets
• Worth: $8.6 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: chemicals
• Worth: $8.6 billion
• Change: DOWN
• Origin of Wealth: mutual funds
• Worth: $8.6 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Carnegie Steel, Bessemer Trust
America’s first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller (left) founded Standard Oil in 1870. He is pictured with his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Corbis/Getty Images
• Worth: $8.4 billion
• Change: DOWN
• Origin of Wealth: oil
• Worth: $8.4 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: newspapers
These three generations of the Bechtel family-Stephen Jr., Riley and Brendan Bechtel-have led Bechtel, the construction engineering giant founded in 1889 and known for building the Hoover Dam and the Channel Tunnel.
PRNewsfoto; Evan Vucci-AP; PRNewsfoto
• Worth: $8.3 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: construction, engineering
• Worth: $8.2 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: Gore-Tex
• Worth: $8.1 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: real estate
• Worth: $7.8 billion
• Change: NEW
• Origin of Wealth: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Worth: $7.7 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: agribusiness
• Worth: $7.3 billion
• Change: UP
• Origin of Wealth: textiles, apparel
METHODOLOGY
Unlike our flagship Forbes 400 list of America’s richest people and our World’s Billionaires ranks, which focus on individual or nuclear-family wealth, America’s Richest Families includes multigenerational families of all sizes, ranging from just 2 brothers to the 4,000 members of the Du Pont clan. (Note: We left out self-made entrepreneurs who founded their companies and already appear with their nuclear family on our Billionaires list. That includes Rupert Murdoch and J. Joe Ricketts. Also absent are married couples like Tom and Judy Love.)
To value their fortunes, we added up their assets, including stakes in public and private companies, real estate, art and cash, and took into account estimates of debt. For those with publicly traded holdings, we used stock prices from the close of trading on December 4, 2020. We excluded any assets irrevocably pledged to charitable foundations. We attempted to vet these numbers with all the families or their representatives. Some cooperated; others didn’t. Think we missed a family? Email tips@forbes.com, and we’ll investigate.
Edited by Kerry A. Dolan, Chase Peterson-Withorn and Jennifer Wang
Reporters: Angel Au-Yeung, Deniz Cam, Hayley Cuccinello, Sergei Klebnikov, Andrea Murphy, Ariel Shapiro, Giacomo Tognini, Lisette Voytko
Additional reporting by: Elisabeth Brier, Kenrick Cai, Lauren Debter, Abigail Freeman, Sarah Hansen, Eliza Haverstock, Katherine Love, Chloe Sorvino
Get Forbes’ daily top headlines straight to your inbox for news on the world’s most important entrepreneurs and superstars, expert career advice, and success secrets.